October 27, 2022

Behind the Aroma II: Understanding Skin in the Game

 

I like interacting with people and learning about their ideas. Working with ‘Behind the Aroma II’ as a Graduate Research Assistant has helped me learn from people from different backgrounds, These people include shop owners, restaurant managers,  people in academia and industry experts. I had the opportunity to learn about what they do and what they know best.

Xawaash Restaurant Mississauga, Ontario


The experience made me go to different places here in Guelph, which exposed me to the city as I am new here. It also gave me a sense of accomplishment as I was making and meeting appointments every week with new people for discussions around the topics of the podcast. I was also glad that the work I was doing supported research that will help educate others about food authenticity.

Balzac’s Coffee Guelph, Ontario

During the four months of summer, I visited the Guelph Farmers Market, the Ethnic Supermarket, Xawaash Restaurant and Bogda Restaurant for research on Halal food. I discovered how diverse the markets are and how the two restaurants cater to people beyond those who have halal food preferences. It opened my eyes to how people in Canada from different origins seek to explore food from cultures other than their own.

I learned the immediate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food industry, especially on specialty foods such as organic, locally grown, and halal. As sourcing became limited and difficult because there are few suppliers and producers of specialty goods in Ontario. As a result, vendors were not able to keep up with the restrictions and decline in sales, forcing them to give up their spots in the Farmers’ Market or eliminate specialty products from their menus.

Furthermore, I also conducted interviews with the manager of Balzac’s Coffee shop, the manager of Crazy Carrot restaurant and the owner of Cavan Coffee. I got to know how they source their coffee and ingredients and what their values are and how they make sure those values are made known to their customers. These interactions gave me the opportunity to learn how these coffee shops support coffee growers around the world to ensure they have a living wage by subscribing to the fair trade movement.

Crazy Carrot Restaurant Guelph, Ontario

By meeting and holding discussions with industry experts like Ms. Mariama Deen-Swarray, Mr. Sand Mba Kalu, Ms. Marthane Swart, Mr. Tunde Oyebade, and Mr. Simon Jacques, my perspectives were widened on the work being done in Canada and in the world to educated people on the authenticity and origins of food. I got to learn about geographical indications and the implications of the word and was introduced to African companies paving the way for development and recognition in geographical indications such as the Rooibos Council.

Here in Canada, I got to understand the process of Organic certification through ECOCERT which is rigorous in nature and involves multiple site visits by professionals at different stages of the growing and harvesting process. There is also a tremendous difference between organic certification and other food certifications as other food certifications are not thoroughly verified in Canada as is organic. This shows that there is an asymmetric information and the possibility of adverse selection in the market.

Behind the Aroma II has afforded me the opportunity to learn about what our food actually is and where our food comes from through subject matter experts like Dr. Robert Hanner, Dr. Sri Sethuratnam, and Ms. Anju Philip. What we see or read on food labels isn’t necessarily the whole truth about the product. It was fascinating to hear about advancements in technology in identifying what is in the food we buy, the origins of the species and the environment in which it was grown through DNA barcoding.

The fieldwork was really enjoyable because I was able to discover new places in Guelph such as shops, cafes, markets, and quiet places to study at the University of Guelph campus. Interviewing people online in the ECVOntario remote podcast studio was the challenging part of this experience but I got more comfortable with it as time progresses.

University of Guelph Summerlee Science Complex Atrium

Some of the competencies I gained through this experience are relationship building, public speaking, research, and interview skills. These skills will be useful as I continue to grow in my career, which will involve interviews, focus group discussions, surveys, knowledge translation and transfer, analyses and report writing.  look forward to listening to the finalized second season of ‘Behind the Aroma’ and sharing it with my colleagues and friends.

Chitegetse Rutihinda

MSc CDE Graduate | ECVOntario | IRG

SEDRD, University of Guelph

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