(anglicky): Migration includes a lot of aspects and a lot of scientific disciplines focus on this. One of these aspects is integration, which we can perceive in this case as integration of immigrants into host country society. Approaches and methods of integration can be different depending on ambiguity of this term. This dissertation is focused on specific example of effort to integrate women immigrants with help of traditional food, which came from the ground of civil association InBáze, o.s. The association developed a project named Ethnocatering which helps to immigrants to become successful on job market via their own experience from gastronomy and it`s supporting itself by social entrepreneurship. Women from different countries of the world then have an opportunity to prepare specialties typical for countries they come from and introduce those to the local society. This essay is focused on immigrants from countries such as South Caucasus - Georgia and Armenia and also on traditional food typical for these countries. Kľúčové slová (anglicky): traditional food, different ethnic background cuisine, social entrepreneurship, immigration, integration

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In this study the aim was to describe and understand how meanings emerge from the context in which the food practices of the peoples of Mmotla were construed. South African society is multi-cultural and black South Africans, upon contact with Western-oriented societies, seem to have gradually or partially adopted the Western lifestyle including eating patterns, leading to changing traditional food practices that can be mostly attributed to the effect of acculturation, urbanisation and modernisation processes. The current knowledge base of food practices of the South African population as a whole is fragmentary, with limited information on what some sectors of certain population groups eat. Inadequate attention is paid to the reasons why specific food items are chosen or excluded. To facilitate meaningful consumer education and to recommend sound nutrition interventions, a thorough understanding of why as well as what South Africans eat is urgently needed. Moreover, cognisance should be taken of the factors that contribute to the development of typical food practices within specific communities. As confirmed in various studies in other countries, the reasons for human food choices require an appreciation of the fact that food practices are embedded in the food choice processes which, in turn are guided by numerous interrelated and interdependent factors that are context-specific. A holistic and contextual approach with knowledge of the socio-cultural, psychological, historical and demographic factors that contribute to food practices should be uncovered when attempting to understand and describe these practices and their underlying meanings. The human ecological perspective, as overarching theoretical perspective, is supported by cultural and symbolic interactionism perspectives and other theoretical models, and combined with a qualitative research design to uncover, describe and interpret all the environmental levels, the physical, politico-economic, socio-cultural and the micro-world of the individual, and their embedded factors. Data was obtained from focus group discussions and interviews, supported by participant observation and unobtrusive measures. Purposive sampling was used to select female participants for the focus groups and theoretical sampling for the individual interviews. Gathered data was systematically analysed according to the grounded theory approach throughout the data collection phase. From the findings it became apparent that the food practices of the peoples in Mmotla continue to develop and change. A distinct move towards the modern Western-oriented food practices emerged. Although acculturation of food practices was evident, traditional food practices were not discarded, and both traditional and modern food practices were embraced and regarded as important. Meanings linked to the socio-cultural and socio-psychological environments were used to define the context in which food items were used as symbols, signs or codes to define a specific situation and/or communicate the associated meanings. This resulted in dynamic movement between the two poles, the modern and the traditional, depending on the context. Thus the acculturation response is consequently seen to be fluid, context-specific and driven by various interacting factors from the different environmental levels. This valuable and noteworthy contribution augments existing theories and models on food choice within the South African context. Copyright / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Consumer Science / unrestricted

In northern Saskatchewan, Canada, there are several active and decommissioned uranium mines and mills licensed by Canada's nuclear regulator, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). In these areas, Indigenous communities harvest traditional foods and Canadian diet studies have identified wild berries as an important part of their diet (Furgal, Powell, & Myers, 2005), (Roseanne C. Schuster, 2011), (Health Canada, 2010). Food ingestion is recognized as an exposure pathway of anthropogenic and naturally occurring radioactive materials and trace metals (Kuhnlein & Chan, 2000) and some communities may be concerned their traditional foods are contaminated from facility operations. Wild blueberries and the soil the plant roots grew in were sampled approximately 10-25 kms away from CNSC-licensed facilities in northern Saskatchewan. As a comparison, commercially-available blueberries and soil were collected from Ontario farms and blueberries were obtained from grocery stores. Samples were analyzed for trace elemental concentrations by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) and radionuclide activity concentrations were measured. Annual ingestion dose for blueberry consumption was conservatively estimated to be 0.0079 mSv/a. The blueberry results were compared to international guidelines and published literature and were not found to pose an ingestion health risk. The activity concentrations in blueberries ranged between 0.001-0.006 Bq/g d.w. for ²¹⁰Po and 0.003-0.005 Bq/g d.w. for ²¹⁰Pb and the concentrations of cadmium and arsenic in blueberries ranged between 0.002-0.07 μg/g and 0.0002-0.007 μg/g, respectively. This research project identifies geochemical relationships between radionuclides and trace elements in blueberries, examines the uptake chemistry, environmental cycling of radionuclides and trace elements, and the soil mineralogy and composition, helps inform CNSC's regulatory decision-making process, and supports future human health risk communication with Indigenous communities.

The Haida language, Xaad Kil is dangerously close to extinction and in need of heroic action. The purpose of this study is to find out what ancient traditions and beliefs we could incorporate into our language revitalization efforts. Drawing on archival literature and community knowledge, I found almost 100 traditional ways to support Xaad Kil revitalization. There are four main chapters: Haida foods, Haida medicines, Haida rituals and ceremonies and Haida supernatural beings that could contribute to Xaad Kil revitalization. The food chapter features two-dozen traditional foods from salmon to berries that support a healthy lifestyle for Haida language speakers and that could strengthen our connections to the supernatural world. The Haida medicine chapter features two dozen traditional medicines from single-delight to salt water that could heal, strengthen and purify the Haida language learner. The ritual and ceremony chapter features over two-dozen rituals from devil’s club rituals to labret piercing ceremonies that could strengthen Haidas and our language learning. The supernatural being chapter features twenty-three supernatural beings including Greatest Crab and Lady Luck that could bring a language learner wealth, knowledge, luck and strength. This study suggests that a Xaad kil learner and the Xaad kil language need to be pure, protected, connected, lucky, strong, healthy, respected, loved and wise. The path to these qualities is within the traditions and beliefs featured in this research. This study is significant because it shows that the language revitalization answers are within and all around us. / Graduate / 0290 / 0326 / lucybell@uvic.ca

For centuries the wellbeing of rural communities has depended on the health and resilience of local food systems. Over the last century many factors have contributed to declines in the availability and use of important traditional foods. In this thesis I have used black huckleberry (Vaccinium membranaceum) as a case study through which I explore the varying roles humans play in influencing the health of a wild forest food. Black huckleberry is one of the most sought after wild berries in British Columbia (BC). Over the past few decades huckleberry pickers and forest managers have expressed concerns over the decreasing quality and availability of these berries. To understand the different roles humans play in the ecology of black huckleberry I interviewed 17 long-time huckleberry pickers and participated in berry picking trips – in the East Kootenay region of southeastern BC. I also reviewed the academic literature on huckleberry ecology. I found that huckleberry pickers have a deep knowledge of factors affecting the health of huckleberry patches. They identify both shifting social-economic and ecological conditions in their local forests as intrinsically linked with declining huckleberry availability and health. In contrast, the scientific literature primarily focuses on ecological conditions and forest management practices, ignoring or downplaying the relationship of berry pickers to huckleberry ecology and overall quality. There are significant cultural differences between the berry pickers’ and the scientists’ views of the factors impacting the health of the berry patch. I argue that an effective approach to addressing the problem of declining quality and availability must include the valuable insights berry pickers have on how social-ecological factors affect berry health. / Graduate

A presente dissertação trata da Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional (SAN) entre os povos indí-genas sob a perspectiva do Direito Humano a Alimentação Adequada (DHAA) e da Soberania Alimentar (SA). Apresenta à experiência dos indígenas Asheninkas do Alto Rio Envira, nar-rada a partir deles mesmos, com o Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos (PAA) enquanto be-neficiários fornecedores, no Município de Feijó, Estado do Acre. O PAA invest igado é exe-cutado pelo governo do estado e a modalidade é a Compra com Doação Simultânea. Demons-tra-se, por meio do Estudo de Caso, que o PAA pode fortalecer a segurança alimentar e nutri-cional dessas sociedades diferenciadas com manutenção da sua autonomia cultural. Com isso, debate-se as questões sobre a prioridade legal conferida a estes segmentos e a valorização para a aquisição de produtos tradicionais, intrínsecos á cultura, alimentação e culinária indí-gena. A ressignificação e adequação do Programa localmente unida aos laços de reciprocidade e parentesco, típicos das comunidades indígenas, contribuem para o acesso e manutenção de famílias isoladas geograficamente no Programa. Argumenta-se ainda, que a participação indí-gena no PAA, uma vez seguido os princípios legislativos do Programa e o respeito à autode-terminação dos povos, fortalece o resgate e manutenção dos sistemas alimentares tradicionais dos povos indígenas em seus territórios e terras indígenas já conquistadas legalmente. Assim, o PAA constitui-se não apenas em uma politica geradora de renda, mas, reúne, principalmen-te, características opostas às politicas indigenistas praticadas no passado. / This dissertation discusses food security and nutrition between indigenous people under the consideration of The Human Right to Adequate Food and Food sovereignty perspectives. It presents the experience of the Asheninkas’ people from the high Envira River with the Food Acquisition Program (PAA) in Feijo municipality, from their narratives as suppliers-beneficiaries. The program studied is implemented by the state government in the modality of Buy with Simultaneous donation. It is demonstrated through this case study that the PAA can strengthen food security and nutrition of these diverse societies maintaining their cultural au-tonomy. By this means, questions about the legal priority given to these segments and the appreciation to the acquisition of traditional products, intrinsic to indigenous culture, food and cuisine, are raised and debated. The local reinterpretation and adaptation of the program com-bined with the reciprocity ties and parentage, typical of indigenous communities, contribute to the access and maintenance of geographically isolated families in the program. It is further argued that the indigenous participation on PAA, once its legislative principles and the respect for these people self-determination are observed, strengthens the recovery and maintenance of indigenous traditional food systems in indigenous territories and lands already occupied legal-ly. Therefore, the PAA is not just a income generation policy, but also, and specially, a policy with opposite characteristics from the old indigenous policies.

The contamination of seafood with methylmercury (MeHg) is a global health issue, as MeHg is a well known neurotoxin. Since dietary nutrients may interact with MeHg toxicity, and oxidative stress is one of the primary mechanisms underlying MeHg neurotoxicity, we characterized dietary antioxidant-MeHg interactions. Firstly, we used an ethnobotanical study to confirm the antioxidant activity of Northern Labrador Tea, Rhododendron tomentosum ssp. subarcticum (Tea), for the Canadian Inuit, a population with elevated MeHg exposure. Secondly, we determined the ability of Tea to ameliorate MeHg-induced toxicity in a rat perinatal exposure study. MeHg exposure (2 mg/KgBW/d) was associated with perturbed development and behaviour, elevated brain N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors, and serum lipid peroxidation. Surprisingly, Tea co-exposure (100 mg/KgBW/d) modulated MeHg’s effects on brain NMDA-R levels and lipid peroxidation, but also increased mercury serum concentrations. Thirdly, using a toxicogenomics approach we determined that MeHg exposure caused the down-regulation of Nr4a2 and its protein product Nurr1. These novel MeHg targets are implicated in developmental learning functions and were corrected with MeHg + Tea co-exposure. Lastly, we conducted a risk assessment survey and cross-sectional dietary epidemiology study in Costa Rica to further investigate dietary nutrient-MeHg interactions. Costa Rica is a Central American country with multiple sources of Hg and a high per capital fish consumption. Here, 5 of the 14 populations we studied exceeded the recommended MeHg provisional tolerable daily intake (pTDI) of 0.2 µg/KgBW/d. In Heredia the pTDI was exceeded by 34% of woman participants, primarily associated with canned tuna consumption. Interestingly, we detected that Hg body burden was significantly reduced by the consumption of antioxidant-rich dietary items. Considering our collective results, we hypothesized that MeHg toxicokinetics may be altered by dietary nutrients at the site of intestinal absorption from the disruption of gut flora, or at the site of cellular demethylation in tissues from the improvement of cellular redox state. The interaction of dietary nutrients on MeHg outcomes has a large impact on risk assessment and may provide a public health approach for managing the risk associated with MeHg exposure without reducing local fish consumption.

The contamination of seafood with methylmercury (MeHg) is a global health issue, as MeHg is a well known neurotoxin. Since dietary nutrients may interact with MeHg toxicity, and oxidative stress is one of the primary mechanisms underlying MeHg neurotoxicity, we characterized dietary antioxidant-MeHg interactions. Firstly, we used an ethnobotanical study to confirm the antioxidant activity of Northern Labrador Tea, Rhododendron tomentosum ssp. subarcticum (Tea), for the Canadian Inuit, a population with elevated MeHg exposure. Secondly, we determined the ability of Tea to ameliorate MeHg-induced toxicity in a rat perinatal exposure study. MeHg exposure (2 mg/KgBW/d) was associated with perturbed development and behaviour, elevated brain N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors, and serum lipid peroxidation. Surprisingly, Tea co-exposure (100 mg/KgBW/d) modulated MeHg’s effects on brain NMDA-R levels and lipid peroxidation, but also increased mercury serum concentrations. Thirdly, using a toxicogenomics approach we determined that MeHg exposure caused the down-regulation of Nr4a2 and its protein product Nurr1. These novel MeHg targets are implicated in developmental learning functions and were corrected with MeHg + Tea co-exposure. Lastly, we conducted a risk assessment survey and cross-sectional dietary epidemiology study in Costa Rica to further investigate dietary nutrient-MeHg interactions. Costa Rica is a Central American country with multiple sources of Hg and a high per capital fish consumption. Here, 5 of the 14 populations we studied exceeded the recommended MeHg provisional tolerable daily intake (pTDI) of 0.2 µg/KgBW/d. In Heredia the pTDI was exceeded by 34% of woman participants, primarily associated with canned tuna consumption. Interestingly, we detected that Hg body burden was significantly reduced by the consumption of antioxidant-rich dietary items. Considering our collective results, we hypothesized that MeHg toxicokinetics may be altered by dietary nutrients at the site of intestinal absorption from the disruption of gut flora, or at the site of cellular demethylation in tissues from the improvement of cellular redox state. The interaction of dietary nutrients on MeHg outcomes has a large impact on risk assessment and may provide a public health approach for managing the risk associated with MeHg exposure without reducing local fish consumption.

The contamination of seafood with methylmercury (MeHg) is a global health issue, as MeHg is a well known neurotoxin. Since dietary nutrients may interact with MeHg toxicity, and oxidative stress is one of the primary mechanisms underlying MeHg neurotoxicity, we characterized dietary antioxidant-MeHg interactions. Firstly, we used an ethnobotanical study to confirm the antioxidant activity of Northern Labrador Tea, Rhododendron tomentosum ssp. subarcticum (Tea), for the Canadian Inuit, a population with elevated MeHg exposure. Secondly, we determined the ability of Tea to ameliorate MeHg-induced toxicity in a rat perinatal exposure study. MeHg exposure (2 mg/KgBW/d) was associated with perturbed development and behaviour, elevated brain N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors, and serum lipid peroxidation. Surprisingly, Tea co-exposure (100 mg/KgBW/d) modulated MeHg’s effects on brain NMDA-R levels and lipid peroxidation, but also increased mercury serum concentrations. Thirdly, using a toxicogenomics approach we determined that MeHg exposure caused the down-regulation of Nr4a2 and its protein product Nurr1. These novel MeHg targets are implicated in developmental learning functions and were corrected with MeHg + Tea co-exposure. Lastly, we conducted a risk assessment survey and cross-sectional dietary epidemiology study in Costa Rica to further investigate dietary nutrient-MeHg interactions. Costa Rica is a Central American country with multiple sources of Hg and a high per capital fish consumption. Here, 5 of the 14 populations we studied exceeded the recommended MeHg provisional tolerable daily intake (pTDI) of 0.2 µg/KgBW/d. In Heredia the pTDI was exceeded by 34% of woman participants, primarily associated with canned tuna consumption. Interestingly, we detected that Hg body burden was significantly reduced by the consumption of antioxidant-rich dietary items. Considering our collective results, we hypothesized that MeHg toxicokinetics may be altered by dietary nutrients at the site of intestinal absorption from the disruption of gut flora, or at the site of cellular demethylation in tissues from the improvement of cellular redox state. The interaction of dietary nutrients on MeHg outcomes has a large impact on risk assessment and may provide a public health approach for managing the risk associated with MeHg exposure without reducing local fish consumption.