Previous Research

Nourishing Communities research group has collectively completed several research projects since its inception in 2008.

Current Research Projects

Ongoing group research projects include:

Food Hub Feasibility Studies: Building food system resilience in community value chains  (an OMAFRA New Directions project), including the Ontario Regional Food Hub Survey

The Social Economy of Food: Informal, under-recognized contributions to community prosperity and resilience  (a SSHRC Insight grant)

Future Directions

In 2013 the project, team and PI (Alison Blay-Palmer) was a finalist for the prestigious SSHRC Impact Awards in the Partnership category. We are building on this trajectory through partnership and collaboration on various projects, including:

• Food: Engaging in Action for Sustainable Transformation (FEAST) International Social Sciences Council (ISSC), Transformations to Sustainability Program
  – In competition against more than 500 other submissions, our LOI was one of 30 successful applications.

• Carasso Foundation
  Sustainable Food Systems call
  – Led by International Network of Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food Security (RUAF) and co-applicant from United Nations, Food and Agriculture Organization

• United States National Space Agency (NASA)
  ABoVE – Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment

 

Affiliated Research Projects

Many of the research group members are also working on cool research projects that build from, draw upon and feed into the core group’s research. These include:

Project SOIL

A feasibility study that explores the potential of on-site food production for public institutions through arrangements with local producers, particularly where access to farmland is limited and expensive. By encouraging and facilitating these partnerships, we aim to test the potential for growing mutually beneficial relationships, while increasing the public production and consumption of fresh food.