OBJECTIVES: This exploratory study aimed to shed light on the role of the food environment in shaping food access among immigrants living in the Region of Waterloo, Ontario.
METHODS:In this qualitative case study, in-depth interviews aided by photovoice were conducted with nine immigrants, and key informant (KI) interviews were conducted with nine community stakeholders (e.g., settlement workers, planners) who held expert knowledge of the local context with respect to both the food system and experiences of immigrants in interacting with this system. In this paper, we focus specifically on insights related to the food environment, applying the Analysis Grid for Environments Linked to Obesity Framework to assess economic, physical, socio-cultural and political aspects.RESULTS: Economic features of the food environment, including food prices and differential costs of different types of food, emerged as factors related to food access. However, interactions with the food environment were shaped by broader economic factors, such as limited employment opportunities and low income. Most immigrants felt that they had good geographic access to food, though KIs expressed concerns about the types of outlet and food that were most accessible. Immigrants discussed social networks and cultural food practices, whereas KIs discussed political issues related to supporting food security in the Region.CONCLUSION: This exploratory case study is consistent with prior research in highlighting the economic constraints within which food access exists but suggests that there may be a need to further dissect food environments.KEY WORDS: Food supply; emigrants and immigrants; food intake; environment; refugees; immigrant La traduction du résumé se trouve à la fin de l'article.
Based on the need to expand literature on sorority women and explore all women's negotiations of gendered discourses, I conducted an ethnographic study of a southern sorority grounded in a priori notions of discourse, discipline, subjectivity, and performativity as theorized by Michel Foucault and Judith Butler. The findings of this study were represented through a creative analytic screenplay that illuminated the ways sorority women learned gendered expectations, were disciplined towards compliance, and sometimes resisted or reinterpreted expectations of the dominant discourse of "ladylike." This manuscript explores the use of the ethnographic screenplay as data representation, specifically focusing on the methods of creating composite characters, content, settings, scenes, and director's comments. Exploring the use of this creative analytic practice helps to challenge notions of "traditional research" and makes space for "doing representation differently."
When embarking on ethnographic fieldwork, a researcher must carefully consider how to present oneself when entering the field. Presentations of self become particularly important when the culture under study maintains narrowly defined expectations for personal appearance and behavior. The more defined the expectations, the more important it is for the researcher to "read" those expectations and make deliberate choices concerning her appearance, body language, use of language, and overall style. Such choices can have tangible consequences concerning a researcher's access to the field, in regard to both the physical access of the spaces and the social access of the lived experiences of participants within those spaces. In this article, I explore the use of my own self-presentation as a method of gaining physical and social access to ethnographic sorority spaces, and then consider those methodological consequences that may ensue when a researcher becomes "too good at fitting in."
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