Sustainable Built Environments Senior Capstone Project / This project strives to discover the most efficient way in which we can connect the edible food that would be sent to rot in a landfill with the people who lack access to adequate and healthful food. Existing charitable food distribution programs will be assessed so as to determine how to create a food distribution event that is far-reaching, well attended and effective. This research will be translated into a comprehensive plan outlining best practices for carrying out a distribution event on a college campus.

Thirteen specified water soluble dyes are permitted for use in edible products consumed in Canada and the United States. The official chemical-physical method of analysis is not very successful when small amounts of one dye are present with larger amounts of others, or even in the analysis of a single dye if present in small quantities. The spectrophotometer has been shown to be very useful in identifying the thirteen permitted dyes individually, and by its means many previously unresolvable binary mixtures have been readily analyzed. Further investigation of the possibilities of this method of analysis is proceeding. / Science, Faculty of / Chemistry, Department of / Graduate

There are an estimated 370 million culturally diverse Indigenous people worldwide. However, among this cultural diversity, there is one commonality that all Indigenous populations share; disparities across all dimensions of health indicators. Food access is one of primary indicators of health and despite this, Canada’s Indigenous population, especially in the North, remains overrepresented in household food insecurity statistics. This research aims at telling the story of one Northern community, Fort Providence, and the experiences around a school-based wild food program. It is written in the publishable paper format and is comprised of two papers. Drawing from approximately 25 weeks of ethnographic research, the first paper uses Homi Bhabha’s concept of Third Space to explain the unique way that Fort Providence youth navigate their local and global experiences. Using three tangible examples, I explain that the space where the local Dene practises interest with contemporary globalized influences creates a productive and empowering Third Space identity for youth. Drawing further on the ethnographic research, paper two gives a detailed description of the innovative land-based school programming that Deh Gah Elementary and Secondary School offers their students. I explain how the food systems in this community are integral to the overall health and vitality of the people. The six primary outcomes which emerged from engaging with community members display how the programming addresses community-wide cultural continuity and individual cultural identity. Together, these papers demonstrate how food systems are deeply embedded into the overall community health and well-being and exhibit the opportunities and positive impacts that land-based food education has for youth and communities.

Copepods live in a nutritionally dilute environment, experiencing temporal and spatial variations in food supply which differ in magnitude and predictability. Understanding the mechanisms by which organisms deal with changes in their food is a primary concern in elucidating the nutritional ecology of zooplankton and the role of food in structuring zooplankton communities. In this thesis, I examine changes in behavior, morphology, and physiology of two species of calanoid copepods (Diaptomus kenai and D. leptopus) in response to variation in food composition and density. In Chapter Two, I present a study of population-level responses to variation in food composition and quality, using fertilization techniques to generate a range of phytoplankton communities in field enclosures. The phytoplankton assemblages studied supported copepod populations which differed in such attributes as population size, reproduction, and body size. The most striking finding of this study was the occurrence of two co-existing size classes of D. kenai, the abundance and clutch size of which varied among the enclosures, suggesting differences between the two classes in their ability to utilize the different phytoplankton communities. Chapter Three investigates patterns of lipid storage in response to changes in food supply. I concluded that lipid stores were affected by species composition of the phytoplankton food and the two copepod species differed in their sensitivity to differences in cell chemistry. Chapter Four investigates behavioral responses of the two size classes of D. kenai to changes in food composition and abundance. Subtle differences in feeding behavior suggest that the two sizes differ in their utilization of available food. These results demonstrate that D. kenai and D. leptopus are capable of responding to changes in their food supply through modifications of their behavior, morphology, and physiology over a range of magnitudes and time scales. There can be very subtle changes in feeding behavior or very pronounced changes in size structure. Responses occur over time scales ranging from hours to days to seasons. These results also bring into question the utility of models generated under laboratory conditions in predicting behaviors or dynamics of copepod populations and communities in nature. / Science, Faculty of / Zoology, Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this study was to prepare curriculum materials for an avocational program in adult education on the heating and cooking techniques of domestic food processing. The material was developed as a teaching device (text) to be used in an adult education program or as a self-study program for adults who had never cooked. The text departed from the conventional development of food text materials. It is customary to proceed from the food to the method of preparation. This text began with the method and applied it, wherever possible, to each of six natural foods. These foods were meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, fruit and eggs. It was felt that this presentation would provide the adult learner with the means of achieving his immediate practical objectives more readily than the conventional presentation. In addition to developing curriculum material for an avocational program on the heating and cooking techniques of domestic food processing the study served to examine the cooking repetoire of Canada and the United States. By means of deduction it became apparent that certain valuable areas of cookery have been neglected in Canadian and American cuisine. This was particularly evident in vegetable cookery. A method of preparing chicken by poaching was also found to have been largely overlooked in Canadian and American cook books. The text was developed from a conceptual classification designed especially for this study. The classification depicts the whole field of food processing starting with food in its natural state and following it through the various processes to the stage at which it is ready for consumption. It begins by showing the six food processing techniques of preparation and preservation. These are; (l) Sub-division and fractionization, (2) combining and mixing, (3) heating and cooking, (4) removal of heat and freezing, (5) use of chemical agents, (6) use of microorganisms. The heating and cooking technique is further classified according to media of heat transfer. These are; (l) water, (2) steam, (3) air, (4) fat, (5) combinations of these media. The media classification is sub-divided into methods of cooking. When water is the medium of heat transfer the cooking methods are boiling, simmering, poaching and stewing; when steam is the medium the methods are steaming, waterless-cooking and pressure-cooking, when air is the medium the methods are broiling and roasting or baking, when fat is the medium the methods are pan-frying, deep-fat frying, sauteing and pan-broiling; when a combination of media are used the methods are braising and pot-roasting. The methods may also be classified as moist heat methods, dry heat methods and combination methods. The text was divided into five units as chapters, each chapter dealing with one medium of heat transfer. Each chapter gave definitions of each cooking method as well as description of its use with six natural foods. The foods chosen for this study were meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, fruit and eggs. If the method could be applied to these foods it was described in detail and a basic formula was developed. These basic formulae are step of procedure which is used by experienced cooks to achieve predictable results. At the end of each chapter an appraisal of the method was made. Learning experiences were also suggested which would enable the adult learner to assess his own progress and achievement. Solutions to problems were given. Every effort was made to familiarize the adult learner with the basic principles of food preparation. It was felt that the intelligent performer of a skill is one who understands "why" as well as "how" a procedure is followed. It was also felt that if the adult learner was given an understanding of basic methods, basic formulae and essential skills he would be equipped to use recipes intelligently. This study was conceived as one unit in a broader curriculum which would embrace all six techniques of domestic food processing, / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

A new method for designing optimum package size and processing conditions for re-tortable flexible or microwaveable packages has been specified. The method employed the random centroid optimization technique. The method also included a computer simulation model, used to calculated process lethality and nutrient degradation, and an objective function used to calculate total process cost from the above values as well as from the processing parameters. The objective function was original in that it was economicaly based, rather than concentrating solely on achieving processes with high product quality. Typical processing costs such as the cost of energy or materials were included, as well as more qualitative costs such as those associated with decreases in product quality. Most of these costs were inferred from conventional can processing costs, as information regarding processing costs for flexible or microwaveable retortable packages was often unavailable. For the simulation model, a recently developed one dimensional finite difference technique of high accuracy (the exponential finite difference method) was extended to three dimensions and used to solve the partial differential heat flow equation. The simulation model also comprised an original algorithm to model headspace and a new numerical integration technique to calculate lethality and nutrient degradation from the time temperature profile. The headspace model calculated headspace volume as a function of retort temperature and pressure and then used steady state heat transfer theory to model heat flow across the package headspace. The numerical integration technique fitted an exponential curve to the time temperature profile and then integrated this curve analytically. The accuracies of the exponential finite difference method with and without headspace included and of the numerical integration technique were tested by comparison with both analytical solutions and other well established numerical methods. In addition, the uncertainty associated with the assumption of uniform paramaters was evaluated using a Monte Carlo technique. After the validity of the simulation model was established, it was used in conjunction with the objective function and the random centroid optimization method to search for a global cost minimum. One trial optimization using a simple objective function was made, followed by three optimization runs using the more complex objective function desinged to calculate process cost. Each optimization used a different set of decision variables, which varied in number from three to five. The results were evaluated as to whether a minimum was found, and if so, whether it constituted a global minimum. / Science, Faculty of / Botany, Department of / Zoology, Department of / Graduate

Optimal foraging models generally assume that predators are capable of making appropriate foraging decisions and that these decisions affect fitness. I tested these assumptions in a study of the intertidal beetle Thinopinus pictus Leconte (Staphlyinidae). Adult beetles live on sand beaches in temporary burrows from which they emerge at night to prey on amphipods Orchestoidea californiana (Brandt). I also present some data for isopods Alloniscus perconvexus Dana, a less important prey species. I measured amphipod activity patterns by pitfall trapping, and beetle activity patterns by direct counts of the number of beetles active on the beach in 1-h searches. In general, there was a good correspondence between beetle and amphipod temporal and spatial activity patterns. However, by manipulating the spatial distribution of prey, I showed that beetles arrived at foraging sites independently of prey availability. Prey capture rate was low, with a mean of 75 min between captures, so that beetles were not always successful in obtaining food during a night. Food deprivation for up to 4-d intervals did not affect beetle survival or oviposition rates in laboratory experiments. I constructed models of amphipod size selection by beetles, using the size distributions of amphipods measured on the beach, and the results of laboratory experiments on capture success, reaction distance and feeding rates. Capture success decreased and the probability that an amphipod was detected increased with increasing amphipod size. Beetles observed during beach searches selected larger sizes of amphipods than predicted from availability and vulnerability of different sizes. To apply an optimal foraging model, I estimated the profitability of different sizes of amphipods from the number of amphipods of a given size required to satiate a beetle in the laboratory. Profitability was highest for large amphipods and lowest for small amphipods and isopods. However, amphipod abundance on the beach was always below the threshold at which specialization on larger sizes was predicted to occur. Male beetles were active longer than female beetles during the night, and fewer male beetles were observed feeding. Male beetles tended to be found higher on the beach and to include more isopods in their diet than female beetles. In laboratory experiments I showed that amphipods were highly preferred over isopods by both sexes of beetles. Male and female beetles were approximately the same size and consumed equal numbers of prey items. I conclude that male foraging behaviour was altered by search for mates. I present an optimal diet model for two prey types, based on the expected foraging time required for a predator to reach satiation. Predictions differ in some cases from a model based on maximization of the rate of energy intake. Foraging time may be minimized by a predator which begins as a specialist and then expands its diet to include lower value prey when it is near satiation. Laboratory experiments on Thinopinus give weak support for these predictions, but I present alternative interpretations of the results. I suggest that most invertebrate predators which forage on active prey are limited in their ability to assess variations. in prey abundance. Future studies should emphasize how patchiness in prey availability affects foraging behaviour. / Science, Faculty of / Zoology, Department of / Graduate

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