September 30, 2015

Can appropriate certification process improve food sovereignty?

In my rihla (journey) across different food landscapes I have discovered that people consume food not necessarily to satisfy hunger but for cultural, religious and social reasons. This is even more pronounced in Canada where people explore and learn from other cultures by including other people’s food in their cuisine. Cultural groups differ in their definition of good or appropriate food. For example, the elite and environmentally conscious believe in organic and/or local, the Jews...
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September 25, 2015

Halal: A Preferred cuisine

The nation of Somalia on the eastern horn of Africa has undergone a terrible humanitarian crisis. As of 2013, 1.1 million Somalis had been forced to disperse across the world as refugees [1] in response to a deadly combination of war, drought, corruption, and famine. Many of these people have sought and found sanctuary in Canada. Here, they must face the new challenges of adapting to a foreign climate and culture. Not least among these issues is the question of whether or not...
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September 11, 2015

Sesame Oil: A Keystone Ingredient

If you cook your own food, you’ll know what I’m talking about: that one ingredient. The one that’s always on your shopping list, always in your pantry. There is no substitute, you can’t seem to get away from using it, and without it your kitchen might as well be closed. I call it a keystone ingredient. Think of your keystone ingredient. Is it a spice blend? A particular cheese? Type of nut? For those preparing Somali food it is sesame oil. Found in a variety of traditional plates...
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September 4, 2015

Understanding Refugee Path Immigrants

In my quest for knowledge, I became confused about concepts such as the whiteness (in terms of race, class and education) of spaces such as the farmers’ market, appropriate definition of a food desert, and the possibility of control over the food consumed by groups such as  refugee path immigrants.  Refugee path immigrants (RPIs) are people who entered their new country through refugee routes (Adekunle et al. 2015). My confusion may have stemmed from my epistemological and ontological...
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