Fed Family Lab Leads the Way in Food, Health, and Social Justice

Dr. Lesley Frank from Acadia University's Department of Sociology has recently been awarded a prestigious $237,238 research grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) to study the North American infant formula shortage.

The infant formula shortage crisis in the United States and Canada, which began in February 2022, disproportionately affected low-income families and those relying on specialty formulas. The crisis revealed the vulnerability of our industrial food system and distances us from the UN's Zero Hunger goal.

Frank’s research project will study the impact of this crisis and develop insights using digital ethnography, surveys, interviews, and cross-national comparative research. The main objective is to create emergency feeding pathways and long-term solutions for infant food security.

As a Tier II Canada Research Chair in Food, Health, and Social Justice, Frank leads cutting-edge research in the newly established Fed Family Lab on Acadia’s Wolfville campus. Her study focuses on understanding caregiver experiences and institutional dynamics tied to the issue of infant food insecurity.

A Collaborative Approach

This SSHRC Insight Grant will enable Dr. Frank and her interdisciplinary team, including Dr. Merin Oleschuk from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Dr. Elisabeth Rondinelli from Saint Mary’s University, to further explore the root causes of the infant formula shortage and its effects on North American families.

“Like so many social issues, infant food insecurity is a complex problem that crosscuts any one area, sector, or national setting,” says Oleschuk. “This research collaboration works to build linkages to better understanding the causes and consequences of infant formula shortages and help protect families into the future.”

The project is conducted as a collaboration between the Fed Family Lab at Acadia and the Food Equity and Dignity (FED) Lab at the University of Illinois, coming together across borders to address a transnational food issue.  It builds on research that explored economic threats to infant food security to examine ‘first-food’ system supply shocks. The project employs a social-relations approach, linking individual experiences with institutional relations to better understand the connections between individual situations and wider social structures influencing food access and consumption. Its innovative methods combine institutional ethnography and digital storytelling, working with Ariella Pahlke, an award-winning knowledge-based documentary media expert and David Szanto, interactive web designer and co-Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Food Studies journal.  and co-Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Food Studies journal.

“Conducting research with vulnerable populations requires immersing ourselves in their daily experiences often overlooked in public policy,” explains Rondinelli. “Digital ethnography, utilizing smartphones for photo and video diaries, allows us to gain intimate insights into participants' lives both at home and in the grocery store. Food insecurity is felt at the heart of family life – being able to feed our children can be a source of great pride but when food is scarce, it can also be a source of great stress. Our project is designed to bring the stories associated with infant food insecurity to the forefront of discussions of what steps must be taken to meaningfully address this ongoing crisis.”

Dr. Anna Redden, Associate Vice-President, Research, Innovation, and Graduate Studies at Acadia praises Frank's efforts.

"Dr. Lesley Frank's innovative SSHRC-funded research project will impact our understanding of infant formula shortages and contribute significantly to advancements in public policy and support systems dedicated to caregivers across Canada," says Redden.

Important Discoveries Already Unveiled

Preliminary results from Frank's "Feeding in the Early Years in Nova Scotia" study highlight significant challenges faced by families even before the 2022 North American formula shortage.

"Food insecurity during infancy is a pressing nutrition and social equity issue that demands attention,” explains Frank. “Our ultimate goal is to develop robust economic and food supply protections for families, ensuring children and their families' rights to food are upheld."

The SSHRC grant will strengthen Frank's research initiatives and foster cross-disciplinary collaboration with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. This approach will facilitate knowledge-sharing and positively impact Canadian and American academic communities and produce evidence for policy interventions.

The research project is already underway, with additional support from the Canada Research Chair program, which helps the Fed Family Lab support research training. Regular updates on progress and findings will be shared through videos, a website, and academic publications and conferences.

About the Fed Family Lab

The Fed Family Lab at Acadia University is a space for training and collaborative social research for food and health justice. Using mixed methods, and partnerships across disciplines and sectors, we advance the study of family and childhood food insecurity and share evidence for policy change to strengthen the well-being of families.