Food is strongly symbolic and multifaceted. Evidence supports the social connections and personal meanings expressed by food. Social media is filled with shared photos of food and recipes which has been termed ‘foodtography’. Dietitians are passionate about the power of food and have positioned themselves as “leaders in all aspects of food systems”.
This session explores the meaning of food to Canadians through experiential and research learnings from the Let’s Taste Canada cross country tour and photovoice conversations with dietetic students and professionals. Speakers challenge listeners to unpack their personal meanings of food and how these affect personal and professional endeavours. Let’s talk about food!
Date of presentation: June 2019, DC National Conference
Speakers:
- Marcia Cooper PhD RD has been a Research Scientist in the Bureau of Nutritional Sciences at Health Canada since 2007. Her Social Science research focuses on evaluating nutrition messages in the media, nutrition labelling, supplemented foods and developing and validating nutrition screening tools.
- Laurie Wadsworth PhD PDt FDC is Senior Research Professor at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, NS and has extensive community nutrition experience in Saskatchewan with 12 years as Public Health Nutritionist, Provincial Nutritionist, and Health Promotion Consultant. She sat on the Trans Fat Task Force for Canada and is past Chair of the Board of Directors of Dietitians of Canada.
- Irena Forbes RD is a dietitian and food advocate. She has experience in clinical dietetics, household food insecurity, community food security and nutrition policy. Currently she is pursuing her dream completing part one of a cross-country tour to explore “what is the relationship to food in Canada?” resulting in over 65 interviews to become podcasts in Spring 2019 called Let’s Taste Canada.
Materials:
- Video presentation (76 minutes) with the presentation slides (pdf)
- Audio file (mp3 file)
- Handout (pdf)
Cost: $19.95 for members; $39.95 for non-members; $9.95 for students
