West Carleton Students Explore Cultural Diversity Through Food

West Carleton Students Explore Cultural Diversity Through Food
Posted on 02/01/2023
West Carleton Students Explore Cultural Diversity Through Food

Grade 11 students at West Carleton Secondary School became anthropologists within their community and organized a multicultural food fair to deepen their understanding of different cultures.


Students in the Psychology, Anthropology and Sociology course began the project with a field trip to Somerset Street. They conducted research about different cultures present within the neighbourhood by interviewing community members and taking photos of local food options and street art. Back in the classroom, they made a list of all the cultures they had seen during their outing and embarked on the next stage of the project: exploring these cultures through food.


Students selected a variety of dishes – from bannock to bibimbap, from vindaloo to varenyky – and conducted research on their origins and cultural significance. They created posters to present their findings at a multicultural fair, representing a total of around 55 different cultures.


The class teamed up with students in teacher Zoe Robinson’s Foods classes, who prepared some of the dishes to share at the event, including Pad Thai, Thai Mango Salad, Churros, Egyptian Goulash (meat pastries), Goi Cuon (Vietnamese rolls), Nasi Goreng (Indonesian fried rice), Borek (Turkish cheese pastries) and Miguelitos (Spanish pastries). 


Teacher Kelly J. Anderson led this project to give students hands-on opportunities to experience different cultures, understand how multiculturalism enriches their community, and continue to build a more inclusive environment at the school.


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“This project was amazing to work on. I got to learn so much about culture and diversity, and how the roots of food in Canada relate back to their original sources. It was so much fun to look at the multiculturalism of food, the diversity of spices, the variations, and overall, the versatility of all the different dishes.” - Madelyn H.
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“Working on this project was so fun. I got to uncover a whole new piece of the food I did a project on – I didn’t know about all its religious value and cultural importance until I started doing some research. And now [at this fair], I get to see the cultural importance of all these foods that I thought were just regular foods.” - Payton M.
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The Innovation and Adolescent Learning department (IAL), through Experiential Learning, proudly supports this initiative. Several other classes are also involved with this project, and we are excited to see their learning unfold.


Check out this gallery to see the students’ work:

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