INTRODUCTION: This meta-research article considers the ethics and efficacy of a nonviolent, “braided” methodology used by a research study called “The Recognition Project.” The methodology of The Recognition Project interweaved participatory, community-, and arts- based approaches in an effort to create a cooperative, relationally oriented environment where three distinct communities of interest could contribute respectively—and collaboratively—to the sharing, creation, and public dance performance of stories about self-harm. The three communities of interest were university-based researchers, community-based researchers who had engaged in self-harm, and an artist team of choreographers, a musician, and professional youth dancers. Our article explores some of the experiences, as shared by dancers of the artist team, from narrative interviews following the final dance performance.METHOD: Data were collected through qualitative interviews conducted with six artist team members. A qualitative thematic analysis approach was used to identify the main themes.FINDINGS: What emerged was an overriding theme about Story and the power issues that came forward due to the personal and the collective aspects of Story. The power issues were related to individual and collective exercise of power, the use of dialogue to build a positive community, and the transformative potential for the artist collaborators to participate in such a study.CONCLUSION: While participatory, community- and arts-based projects are often taken up with the intention of facilitating research that will not harm, there are important and additional ethical considerations to be made in community-based collaborations that feature difference across perspective, experience, skill, and knowledge.

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<p><em>Bento,</em> a Japanese style boxed lunch, has a distinct cultural meaning for Japanese people as a medium of affective communication between children and parents. However, in Canadian schools governed by the Anglo-Western food norms, their culinary practices may stand out. This study employed an arts-informed participatory design to explore how school-aged children (6-12 years old) of Japanese origin and their parents describe their experience bringing Japanese food to school in Canada. We conducted arts-informed workshops with 16 children who created artworks about their lunchboxes, and focus groups with 19 parents (all mothers). Children’s artworks illuminated a common aesthetics about “good” lunch that closely reflected mothers’ commitment to preparing nutritionally balanced and aesthetically appealing <em>bento</em> boxes. Both children and mothers reported that Canadian school food environment (e.g., short eating periods, snack times, built environment) sometimes misaligns with their food practices. Some families were compelled to modify their <em>bento</em> to accommodate children’s needs to fit in at school. Meantime, participants’ narratives indicate the prevalence of stigma toward “junk” food that may perpetuate food shaming at school. A more inclusive, diverse and culturally appropriate discussion on “healthy eating” at school can embrace children’s and their families’ intercultural food identities.</p>

<p><em>Bento,</em> a Japanese style boxed lunch, has a distinct cultural meaning for Japanese people as a medium of affective communication between children and parents. However, in Canadian schools governed by the Anglo-Western food norms, their culinary practices may stand out. This study employed an arts-informed participatory design to explore how school-aged children (6-12 years old) of Japanese origin and their parents describe their experience bringing Japanese food to school in Canada. We conducted arts-informed workshops with 16 children who created artworks about their lunchboxes, and focus groups with 19 parents (all mothers). Children’s artworks illuminated a common aesthetics about “good” lunch that closely reflected mothers’ commitment to preparing nutritionally balanced and aesthetically appealing <em>bento</em> boxes. Both children and mothers reported that Canadian school food environment (e.g., short eating periods, snack times, built environment) sometimes misaligns with their food practices. Some families were compelled to modify their <em>bento</em> to accommodate children’s needs to fit in at school. Meantime, participants’ narratives indicate the prevalence of stigma toward “junk” food that may perpetuate food shaming at school. A more inclusive, diverse and culturally appropriate discussion on “healthy eating” at school can embrace children’s and their families’ intercultural food identities.</p>

Bento, a Japanese style boxed lunch, has a distinct cultural meaning for Japanese people as a medium of affective communication between children and parents. However, in Canadian schools governed by the Anglo-Western food norms, their culinary practices may stand out. This study employed an arts-informed participatory design to explore how school-aged children (6-12 years old) of Japanese origin and their parents describe their experience bringing Japanese food to school in Canada. We conducted arts-informed workshops with 16 children who created artworks about their lunchboxes, and focus groups with 19 parents (all mothers). Children’s artworks illuminated a common aesthetics about “good” lunch that closely reflected mothers’ commitment to preparing nutritionally balanced and aesthetically appealing bento boxes. Both children and mothers reported that Canadian school food environment (e.g., short eating periods, snack times, built environment) sometimes misaligns with their food practices. Some families were compelled to modify their bento to accommodate children’s needs to fit in at school. Meantime, participants’ narratives indicate the prevalence of stigma toward “junk” food that may perpetuate food shaming at school. A more inclusive, diverse and culturally appropriate discussion on “healthy eating” at school can embrace children’s and their families’ intercultural food identities.