Elaine Power | Queen's University at Kingston (original) (raw)

Papers by Elaine Power

Critical Dietetics, 2022

The Nutritious Food Basket (NFB) is the only locally generated, standardized measure of the cost ... more The Nutritious Food Basket (NFB) is the only locally generated, standardized measure of the cost of a healthy diet gathered annually in Ontario (Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion (OMHP), 2010). This study analyzed if and how research using the Nutritious Food Basket (NFB) protocol is presented and mobilized on the websites of public health units (PHU) for health equity advocacy in Ontario. A coding scheme developed by the authors was used to conduct a content analysis of public health unit websites. In total, 35 PHU websites were analyzed. Thirty-two out of 35 websites included some information about local NFB research, while three had none. The ways in which Nutrition Food Basket research is included, framed, and leveraged for advocacy on public health unit websites varies widely along the categories assessed for this research. Despite fairly consistent messaging that defines food insecurity as an income-related issue alongside statements that food banks are inadequate solutions...

Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l'alimentation, 2018

The idea for this special issue emerged from the enthusiastic response to a day-long series of se... more The idea for this special issue emerged from the enthusiastic response to a day-long series of sessions on feminist food studies that were held during the joint conference of the Canadian Association of Food Studies, the Association for the Study of Food and Society, and the Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society, in 2016, in Scarborough, Ontario. The sessions brought together feminist food scholars from across Canada and the U.S. to share their work and to collectively claim space within the conference program to address feminist perspectives in food studies. For us, and the many presenters and attendees at the sessions, the opportunity to gather together and savour more than the usual one or two conference sessions devoted to feminist perspectives was a long-awaited pleasure that did not disappoint. The presenters and audience members illuminated many of the issues, complexities, and perspectives that an explicitly feminist lens brings to food studies. The energy and exciteme...

Health promotion international, Jan 25, 2014

Food insecurity is an urgent public health problem in Canada, affecting 4 million Canadians in 20... more Food insecurity is an urgent public health problem in Canada, affecting 4 million Canadians in 2012, including 1.15 million children, and associated with significant health concerns. With little political will to address this significant policy issue, it has been suggested that perhaps it is time for Canada to try a food stamp-style program. Such a program could reduce rates of food insecurity and improve the nutritional health of low-income Canadians. In this article, we explore the history of the US food stamp program; the key impetus of which was to support farmers and agricultural interests, not to look after the needs of people living in poverty. Though the US program has moved away from its roots, its history has had a lasting legacy, cementing an understanding of the problem as one of lack of food, not lack of income. While the contemporary food stamp program, now called Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), reduces rates of poverty and food insecurity, food insec...

Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l'alimentation

In food systems scholarship, the case for basic income to reduce food insecurity is well-establis... more In food systems scholarship, the case for basic income to reduce food insecurity is well-established. Less well-appreciated is the potential for basic income to support young farmers, improve rural vitality, promote gender equality and racial justice in agriculture, and assist farmers in building resilience in the face of climate chaos and other overlapping crises. In and of itself, basic income cannot transform the food system. However, by guaranteeing an income floor and thus freedom from necessity, it could be a potent tool in radical, democratic struggles against systems of oppression and towards justice—in the food system and beyond.

Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research, 2005

The position of Dietitians of Canada (DC) is that all Canadians must have food security. Recogniz... more The position of Dietitians of Canada (DC) is that all Canadians must have food security. Recognizing food security as a social determinant of health, DC recommends a population health approach to food security: that is, an approach that seeks to reduce health inequities through the pursuit of social justice. A population health approach addresses the root cause of individual and household food insecurity – poverty – through improvements to the social safety net. DC strongly encourages dietitians to educate themselves about the issues and processes to achieve food security through social change, to use empowering strategies in community-based food programming, to conduct and apply research, and to participate in coalitions that advocate to create the conditions in which all Canadians can achieve food security.

Journal for the Study of Food and Society, 1999

Page 1. An Introduction to Pierre Bourdieu's Key Theoretical Concepts by Elaine M. Power, M.... more Page 1. An Introduction to Pierre Bourdieu's Key Theoretical Concepts by Elaine M. Power, M.Sc., RD1 At the heart of Pierre Bourdieu's sociological studies is an integrated theoretical framework of relevance to sociologists offood and nutrition. ...

Qualitative Health Research, 2004

How is the qualitative research analyst to understand apparently contradictory remarks made by a ... more How is the qualitative research analyst to understand apparently contradictory remarks made by a research participant? Although social scientists in the positivist tradition rely on methods such as triangulation to find "truth," interpretive social scientists listen beyond, between, and underneath participants' words to understand the social conditions that produce apparent contradictions in their accounts. In this article, the author presents a case study of making sense of a research participant's contradictory comments, using a theoretical framework to understand the participant's "logic of practice." Through interpretive listening and reflexivity during the data analysis, she came to understand the participant's contradictory remarks in a way that illuminated the contradictions, as well as a significant process in the participant's life at the time: the transformation from carefree daughter to responsible mother. Such an interpretive analysis does not produce "truth" as positivist social scientists require but offers instead the satisfaction of understanding.

Journal for the Study of Food and Society, 1999

Page 1. An Introduction to Pierre Bourdieu's Key Theoretical Concepts by Elaine M. Power, M.... more Page 1. An Introduction to Pierre Bourdieu's Key Theoretical Concepts by Elaine M. Power, M.Sc., RD1 At the heart of Pierre Bourdieu's sociological studies is an integrated theoretical framework of relevance to sociologists offood and nutrition. ...

REVUE CANADIENNE DE SANTÉ PUBLIQUE, 2006

Food insecurity affected over 2.3 million Canadians in 2004. To date, the food security literatur... more Food insecurity affected over 2.3 million Canadians in 2004. To date, the food security literature has not considered the potential impact of economic abuse on food security, but there are three ways in which these two important public health issues may be related: 1) victims of economic abuse are at risk of food insecurity when they are denied access to adequate financial resources; 2) the conditions that give rise to food insecurity may also precipitate intimate partner violence in all its forms; 3) women who leave economically abusive intimate heterosexual relationships are more likely to live in poverty and thus are at risk of food insecurity. This paper presents a case of one woman who, during a qualitative research interview, spontaneously reported economic abuse and heterosexual interpersonal violence. The economic abuse suffered by this participant appears to have affected her food security and that of her children, while her husband's was apparently unaffected. There is an urgent need to better understand the nature of intra-household food distribution in food-insecure households and the impact of economic abuse on its victims' food security. Such an understanding may lead to improved food security measurement tools and social policies to reduce food insecurity.

Critical Dietetics, 2022

The Nutritious Food Basket (NFB) is the only locally generated, standardized measure of the cost ... more The Nutritious Food Basket (NFB) is the only locally generated, standardized measure of the cost of a healthy diet gathered annually in Ontario (Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion (OMHP), 2010). This study analyzed if and how research using the Nutritious Food Basket (NFB) protocol is presented and mobilized on the websites of public health units (PHU) for health equity advocacy in Ontario. A coding scheme developed by the authors was used to conduct a content analysis of public health unit websites. In total, 35 PHU websites were analyzed. Thirty-two out of 35 websites included some information about local NFB research, while three had none. The ways in which Nutrition Food Basket research is included, framed, and leveraged for advocacy on public health unit websites varies widely along the categories assessed for this research. Despite fairly consistent messaging that defines food insecurity as an income-related issue alongside statements that food banks are inadequate solutions...

Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l'alimentation, 2018

The idea for this special issue emerged from the enthusiastic response to a day-long series of se... more The idea for this special issue emerged from the enthusiastic response to a day-long series of sessions on feminist food studies that were held during the joint conference of the Canadian Association of Food Studies, the Association for the Study of Food and Society, and the Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society, in 2016, in Scarborough, Ontario. The sessions brought together feminist food scholars from across Canada and the U.S. to share their work and to collectively claim space within the conference program to address feminist perspectives in food studies. For us, and the many presenters and attendees at the sessions, the opportunity to gather together and savour more than the usual one or two conference sessions devoted to feminist perspectives was a long-awaited pleasure that did not disappoint. The presenters and audience members illuminated many of the issues, complexities, and perspectives that an explicitly feminist lens brings to food studies. The energy and exciteme...

Health promotion international, Jan 25, 2014

Food insecurity is an urgent public health problem in Canada, affecting 4 million Canadians in 20... more Food insecurity is an urgent public health problem in Canada, affecting 4 million Canadians in 2012, including 1.15 million children, and associated with significant health concerns. With little political will to address this significant policy issue, it has been suggested that perhaps it is time for Canada to try a food stamp-style program. Such a program could reduce rates of food insecurity and improve the nutritional health of low-income Canadians. In this article, we explore the history of the US food stamp program; the key impetus of which was to support farmers and agricultural interests, not to look after the needs of people living in poverty. Though the US program has moved away from its roots, its history has had a lasting legacy, cementing an understanding of the problem as one of lack of food, not lack of income. While the contemporary food stamp program, now called Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), reduces rates of poverty and food insecurity, food insec...

Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l'alimentation

In food systems scholarship, the case for basic income to reduce food insecurity is well-establis... more In food systems scholarship, the case for basic income to reduce food insecurity is well-established. Less well-appreciated is the potential for basic income to support young farmers, improve rural vitality, promote gender equality and racial justice in agriculture, and assist farmers in building resilience in the face of climate chaos and other overlapping crises. In and of itself, basic income cannot transform the food system. However, by guaranteeing an income floor and thus freedom from necessity, it could be a potent tool in radical, democratic struggles against systems of oppression and towards justice—in the food system and beyond.

Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research, 2005

The position of Dietitians of Canada (DC) is that all Canadians must have food security. Recogniz... more The position of Dietitians of Canada (DC) is that all Canadians must have food security. Recognizing food security as a social determinant of health, DC recommends a population health approach to food security: that is, an approach that seeks to reduce health inequities through the pursuit of social justice. A population health approach addresses the root cause of individual and household food insecurity – poverty – through improvements to the social safety net. DC strongly encourages dietitians to educate themselves about the issues and processes to achieve food security through social change, to use empowering strategies in community-based food programming, to conduct and apply research, and to participate in coalitions that advocate to create the conditions in which all Canadians can achieve food security.

Journal for the Study of Food and Society, 1999

Page 1. An Introduction to Pierre Bourdieu's Key Theoretical Concepts by Elaine M. Power, M.... more Page 1. An Introduction to Pierre Bourdieu's Key Theoretical Concepts by Elaine M. Power, M.Sc., RD1 At the heart of Pierre Bourdieu's sociological studies is an integrated theoretical framework of relevance to sociologists offood and nutrition. ...

Qualitative Health Research, 2004

How is the qualitative research analyst to understand apparently contradictory remarks made by a ... more How is the qualitative research analyst to understand apparently contradictory remarks made by a research participant? Although social scientists in the positivist tradition rely on methods such as triangulation to find "truth," interpretive social scientists listen beyond, between, and underneath participants' words to understand the social conditions that produce apparent contradictions in their accounts. In this article, the author presents a case study of making sense of a research participant's contradictory comments, using a theoretical framework to understand the participant's "logic of practice." Through interpretive listening and reflexivity during the data analysis, she came to understand the participant's contradictory remarks in a way that illuminated the contradictions, as well as a significant process in the participant's life at the time: the transformation from carefree daughter to responsible mother. Such an interpretive analysis does not produce "truth" as positivist social scientists require but offers instead the satisfaction of understanding.

Journal for the Study of Food and Society, 1999

Page 1. An Introduction to Pierre Bourdieu's Key Theoretical Concepts by Elaine M. Power, M.... more Page 1. An Introduction to Pierre Bourdieu's Key Theoretical Concepts by Elaine M. Power, M.Sc., RD1 At the heart of Pierre Bourdieu's sociological studies is an integrated theoretical framework of relevance to sociologists offood and nutrition. ...

REVUE CANADIENNE DE SANTÉ PUBLIQUE, 2006

Food insecurity affected over 2.3 million Canadians in 2004. To date, the food security literatur... more Food insecurity affected over 2.3 million Canadians in 2004. To date, the food security literature has not considered the potential impact of economic abuse on food security, but there are three ways in which these two important public health issues may be related: 1) victims of economic abuse are at risk of food insecurity when they are denied access to adequate financial resources; 2) the conditions that give rise to food insecurity may also precipitate intimate partner violence in all its forms; 3) women who leave economically abusive intimate heterosexual relationships are more likely to live in poverty and thus are at risk of food insecurity. This paper presents a case of one woman who, during a qualitative research interview, spontaneously reported economic abuse and heterosexual interpersonal violence. The economic abuse suffered by this participant appears to have affected her food security and that of her children, while her husband's was apparently unaffected. There is an urgent need to better understand the nature of intra-household food distribution in food-insecure households and the impact of economic abuse on its victims' food security. Such an understanding may lead to improved food security measurement tools and social policies to reduce food insecurity.