Barb Anderson (Nutrition and Dietetics) and Dr. Lesley Frank (Sociology) are part of a research team that recently received a four year SSHRC grant (approximately $75,000 total). The research is Dismantling stigma: exploring experiences of and views on food insecurity, social exclusion, and shame among women through participatory action research. The PI is Dr. Patty Williams from MSVU and there are five Co-Investigators, which include Lesley and Barb, as well as colleagues from Queens and another from MSVU.  There also are six Collaborators on the project primarily from community, university, and Government.

The research will engage women with experience of Household Food Insecurity as co-researchers in interviews and transformative learning experiences to: 1) better understand the nature of exclusionary social relations that occur at institutional and interpersonal levels; 2) make meaning of these relations; and, 3) translate, and apply this knowledge in new and creative ways to support policies and programs that improve the lives of those who experience Household Food Insecurity. We ask: How and why do collective social beliefs and stigma contribute to social exclusion among women experiencing Household Food Insecurity ?