Community gardening for cultural food security and mental wellbeing: A mixed methods research with newcomer youth and seniors in Canada
Project Lead(s)
Elizabeth Onyango, Mandana Vahabi
Team Members
Egbe Etowa, Yamini Bhatt (external link) , Tyra Mensah, Raliat Owolabi (external link) , Bukola Salami, Josephine Wong, Rade Zinaic (external link)
Newcomers experience stress due to systemic biases, which compound challenges related to food insecurity, nutritional status, overall health, and more specifically mental health
Objective
Studies that have evaluated the interconnection between mental health and food insecurity in immigrants have focused mainly on the general immigrant population, with limited to no studies focusing on high risk groups such as immigrant youths with past trauma experiences and immigrant seniors. This project aims to address these knowledge gaps, investigating the experiences of these high risk groups of mental health, food insecurity and the services that address these social determinants but with a special interest in exploring how community gardens can be utilized as places to support land-based and intergenerational mental health and food security support services.
Research question(s)
- What are the experiences of high-risk immigrant groups related to mental health and food insecurity?
- Are there interconnections between dietary changes due to immigration and the wellbeing of high-risk immigrants in Canada?
- When considering the role of culturally familiar food, intergeneral knowledge exchange, and land-based healing practices, what unique functions and benefits do community gardens provide for high-risk immigrant groups?
Methodology
Informed by the principles of community-based participatory research, land-based practices, and the eco-social model, this project will adopt a mixed methods research approach. The study will draw from the eco-social model to explore systemic and environmental factors that contribute to inequitable social and health outcomes in relation to mental health and food insecurity in high-risk immigrant populations. Eco-social theory enables us to explore the interconnected pathways through which inequities and social injustice occur to contribute to the occurrence of mental health and food insecurity in the populations of study.
Status
The project is ongoing. Phase 1: Population level data analysis, is currently in progress.
Expected completion date: September 2026
Key words
Community-based participatory research; community garden; food insecurity; high-risk immigrants; mental health
