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.
MSc CDE Graduate | ECVOntario | IRG
SEDRD, University of Guelph
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