Beyond food: contributions of a community kitchen and a community garden to the well-being of the Francophone and Francophile community of St. John's, Newfoundland

• Main Author: Bernard, Karine
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Memorial University of Newfoundland 2018
• Subjects: Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://research.library.mun.ca/13159/; https://research.library.mun.ca/13159/1/thesis.pdf

This case study examines the impact of a community kitchen and a community garden developed by the Association communautaire francophone de Saint-Jean (ACFSJ) on Francophones and Francophiles living in St. John’s. The purpose of the study is to gain an understanding of the potential roles these activities play among Francophone and Francophile minority communities. The study used document consultation, participant observation, and in-depth interviews with 24 study participants. Findings indicate that the community kitchen and the community garden provide numerous benefits at the individual and community level. The activities foster much more than knowledge, skills, and a healthy lifestyle. They become vehicles for cultural and ethnolinguistic socialization, conscientization, and cultural and linguistic continuity. They foster a sense of community belonging, empowerment, cultural and linguistic safety, as well as psychological, social, cultural, and linguistic well-being. They support gathering between Francophones and Francophiles. They are spaces where identities are constructed and reconstructed. Findings reveal that Francophones and Francophiles are seeking opportunities to assert their identity, to be engaged in the development of the community, and to enhance their collective pride via activities that resonate with their identity, values, and interests. Above all, findings call for a holistic understanding of health and well-being, which encompasses cultural and linguistic well-being. They call for an expanded understanding of how we imagine well-being to include cultural and ethnolinguistic identity.