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Joan M Eakin - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Food assistance through “surplus” food: Insights from an Ethnographic Study of food bank work
Agriculture and Human Values, 2005Co-Authors: Valerie Tarasuk, Joan M EakinAbstract:In Canada, food assistance is provided through a widespread network of extra-governmental, community-based, charitable programs, popularly termed “food banks”. Most of the food they distribute has been donated by food producers, processors, and retailers or collected through appeals to the public. Some industry donations are of market quality, but many donations are “surplus” food that cannot be retailed. Drawing on insights from an Ethnographic Study of food bank work in southern Ontario, we examined how the structure and function of food banks operate to facilitate the distribution of foods not marketed through the retail system. Our findings indicate that the handling of industry donations of unsaleable products is a labor-intensive activity, made possible by the surfeit of unpaid labor in food banks, the neediness of food bank clients, and clients’ lack of rights in this system. The marshalling of volunteer labor to serve a corporate need might be construed as a “win-win” situation because the work of salvaging edible foodstuffs from among industry “surplus” helps to “feed the hungry” while also diminishing the amount of refuse deposited in landfill sites, sparing corporations disposal costs and landfill tipping fees, and helping them forge an image of good corporate citizenship. However, the reliance of food banks on industry donations means that food assistance becomes defined as that which the corporate sector cannot retail. Moreover, the intertwining of food bank work with corporate needs may function to further entrench this ad hoc secondary food system and mitigate against initiatives to develop more effective responses to problems of hunger and food insecurity in our communities.
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charitable food assistance as symbolic gesture an Ethnographic Study of food banks in ontario
Social Science & Medicine, 2003Co-Authors: Valerie Tarasuk, Joan M EakinAbstract:Community-based charitable food assistance programs have recently been established in several affluent nations to distribute public and corporate food donations to 'the needy'. In Canada, food banks comprise the primary response to hunger and food insecurity, but problems of unmet food need persist. We conducted an Ethnographic Study of food bank work in southern Ontario to examine the functioning of these extra-governmental, charitable food assistance programs in relation to problems of unmet need. Our results suggest that the limited, variable and largely uncontrollable supply of food donations shaped the ways in which food assistance was defined and the practices that governed its distribution. Workers framed the food assistance as a supplement or form of acute hunger relief, but generally acknowledged that the food given was insufficient to fully meet the needs of those who sought assistance. In response to supply limitations, workers restricted both the frequency with which individual clients could receive assistance and the amount and selection of food that they received on any one occasion. Food giving was essentially a symbolic gesture, with the distribution of food assistance dissociated from clients' needs and unmet needs rendered invisible. We conclude that, structurally, food banks lack the capacity to respond to the food needs of those who seek assistance. Moreover, the invisibility of unmet need in food banks provides little impetus for either community groups or government to seek solutions to this problem.
Lorraine Brown - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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the transformative power of the international sojourn an Ethnographic Study of the international student experience
Annals of Tourism Research, 2009Co-Authors: Lorraine BrownAbstract:The findings from an Ethnographic Study of international postgraduate students’ adjustment journey through life in England illustrates the transformative potential of the international student sojourn. It is shown that removal from the familiar home environment gave students freedom from cultural and familial expectations and the opportunity for self-discovery, whilst exposure to a new culture offered them the chance to improve their cross-cultural communication skills. The durability of change was questioned by students who were apprehensive about re-entry to the origin culture and the receptivity of those left behind to the changes they had made. By pointing to the possible similarities between the experiences of international students and long-stay tourists, this paper calls for research into the outcome of long-stay tourism, in order to measure the extent of change in tourists’ self-concept and cross-cultural awareness.
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an Ethnographic Study of the friendship patterns of international students in england an attempt to recreate home through conational interaction
International Journal of Educational Research, 2009Co-Authors: Lorraine BrownAbstract:This paper reports findings from an Ethnographic Study into the adjustment experience of a group of postgraduate international students at a university in the South of England. Friendship emerged as a major theme in this Study; of particular importance to students was the desire and need to mix with conational friends. This desire was driven by the urge to obtain the comfort offered by shared language, shared heritage and access to instrumental support. It was also informed by fear of discrimination and compounded by an absence of host contact which was a source of deep disillusionment for students. The negative impact of segregated friendship groups on the improvement of linguistic and cultural knowledge was understood, but only a handful of students broke away from the confines of the monoethnic ghetto.
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language and anxiety an Ethnographic Study of international postgraduate students
Evaluation & Research in Education, 2008Co-Authors: Lorraine BrownAbstract:Abstract This paper presents some findings from an Ethnographic Study of international postgraduate students at a university in the South of England, which involved interviews and participant observation over a 12-month academic year. One of the major themes that emerged from this research was students’ anxiety over their level of English language. Although all students entered their course with a minimum level of IELTS 6, the majority felt disadvantaged by particularly poor spoken English, and suffered feelings of anxiety, shame and inferiority. Low self-confidence meant that they felt ill equipped to engage in class discussion and in social interaction which used English as the medium of communication. A common reaction to stress caused by language problems was to retreat into monoethnic communication with students from the same country, further inhibiting progress in language. Whilst some linguistic progress was made by nearly all students during the academic sojourn, the anxiety suffered by students i...
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the adjustment journey of international postgraduate students at an english university an Ethnographic Study
Journal of Research in International Education, 2008Co-Authors: Lorraine Brown, Immy HollowayAbstract:Using findings from an Ethnographic Study of international postgraduate students at a university in the south of England, this article offers a model of adjustment that is informed by the duration ...
Valerie Tarasuk - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Food assistance through “surplus” food: Insights from an Ethnographic Study of food bank work
Agriculture and Human Values, 2005Co-Authors: Valerie Tarasuk, Joan M EakinAbstract:In Canada, food assistance is provided through a widespread network of extra-governmental, community-based, charitable programs, popularly termed “food banks”. Most of the food they distribute has been donated by food producers, processors, and retailers or collected through appeals to the public. Some industry donations are of market quality, but many donations are “surplus” food that cannot be retailed. Drawing on insights from an Ethnographic Study of food bank work in southern Ontario, we examined how the structure and function of food banks operate to facilitate the distribution of foods not marketed through the retail system. Our findings indicate that the handling of industry donations of unsaleable products is a labor-intensive activity, made possible by the surfeit of unpaid labor in food banks, the neediness of food bank clients, and clients’ lack of rights in this system. The marshalling of volunteer labor to serve a corporate need might be construed as a “win-win” situation because the work of salvaging edible foodstuffs from among industry “surplus” helps to “feed the hungry” while also diminishing the amount of refuse deposited in landfill sites, sparing corporations disposal costs and landfill tipping fees, and helping them forge an image of good corporate citizenship. However, the reliance of food banks on industry donations means that food assistance becomes defined as that which the corporate sector cannot retail. Moreover, the intertwining of food bank work with corporate needs may function to further entrench this ad hoc secondary food system and mitigate against initiatives to develop more effective responses to problems of hunger and food insecurity in our communities.
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charitable food assistance as symbolic gesture an Ethnographic Study of food banks in ontario
Social Science & Medicine, 2003Co-Authors: Valerie Tarasuk, Joan M EakinAbstract:Community-based charitable food assistance programs have recently been established in several affluent nations to distribute public and corporate food donations to 'the needy'. In Canada, food banks comprise the primary response to hunger and food insecurity, but problems of unmet food need persist. We conducted an Ethnographic Study of food bank work in southern Ontario to examine the functioning of these extra-governmental, charitable food assistance programs in relation to problems of unmet need. Our results suggest that the limited, variable and largely uncontrollable supply of food donations shaped the ways in which food assistance was defined and the practices that governed its distribution. Workers framed the food assistance as a supplement or form of acute hunger relief, but generally acknowledged that the food given was insufficient to fully meet the needs of those who sought assistance. In response to supply limitations, workers restricted both the frequency with which individual clients could receive assistance and the amount and selection of food that they received on any one occasion. Food giving was essentially a symbolic gesture, with the distribution of food assistance dissociated from clients' needs and unmet needs rendered invisible. We conclude that, structurally, food banks lack the capacity to respond to the food needs of those who seek assistance. Moreover, the invisibility of unmet need in food banks provides little impetus for either community groups or government to seek solutions to this problem.
Kay Inckle - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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i am proud of my back an Ethnographic Study of the motivations and meanings of body modification as identity work among athletes with spinal cord injury
Qualitative Research in Sport Exercise and Health, 2020Co-Authors: Andrew C Sparkes, James Brighton, Kay InckleAbstract:Little is known about why disabled athletes choose to modify their bodies and the meanings that these modifications have for them. Drawing on data from a larger 4-year Ethnographic Study, we focus ...
Dylan Tutt - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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change management in practice an Ethnographic Study of changes to contract requirements on a hospital project
Construction Management and Economics, 2014Co-Authors: Clare Shipton, Will Hughes, Dylan TuttAbstract:Changes to client requirements are inevitable during construction. Industry discourse is concerned with minimizing and controlling changes. However, accounts of practices involved in making changes are rare. In response to calls for more research into working practices, an Ethnographic Study of a live hospital project was undertaken to explore how changes are made. A vignette of a meeting exploring the investigation of changes illustrates the issues. This represents an example from the Ethnographic fieldwork, which produced many observations. There was a strong emphasis on using change management procedures contained within the contract to investigate changes, even when it was known that the change was not required. For the practitioners, this was a way of demonstrating best practice, transparent and accountable decision-making regarding changes. Hence, concerns for following procedures sometimes overshadowed considerations about whether or not a change was required to improve the functionality of the bui...
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building networks to work an Ethnographic Study of informal routes into the uk construction industry and pathways for migrant up skilling
Construction Management and Economics, 2013Co-Authors: Dylan Tutt, Sarah Pink, Andrew R J Dainty, Alistair G F GibbAbstract:The UK construction industry labour market is characterized by high levels of self-employment, subcontracting, informality and flexibility. A corollary of this, and a sign of the increasing globalization of construction, has been an increasing reliance on migrant labour, particularly that from the Eastern European Accession states. Yet, little is known about how migrant workers’ experiences within and outside work shape their work in the construction sector. In this context better qualitative understandings of the social and communication networks through which migrant workers gain employment, create routes through the sector and develop their role/career are needed. We draw on two examples from a short-term Ethnographic Study of migrant construction worker employment experiences and practices in the town of Crewe in Cheshire, UK, to demonstrate how informal networks intersect with formal elements of the sector to facilitate both recruitment and up-skilling. Such research knowledge, we argue, offers new e...
