Date of Award

2009

Degree Type

Major Research Paper

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Immigration and Settlement Studies

First Advisor

Cecilia Rocha

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between food and identity in a sample of ethnically diverse 1.5 and second generation Canadians residing in Toronto. The primary question of this research is what challenges do immigrant children face around "ethnic food" in the home and school settings and how do they affect immigrant children's ethnic identity as adults. This paper is an extension of a study by Lessa and Rocha (2007) that examined how food mediates the processes of settlement and new identity formation in newly immigrated women to Toronto. I applied the authors' thematic analysis to the data from this study to compare the similarities and differences of experiences with "ethnic food" between immigrant women and immigrant children. Food studies provide a window into the lives of immigrant children who experience othering processes in mainstream Canadian society and occupy a difficult space in between the dominant and their parents' cultures.


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