Abstract

This exploratory study is based on one on one interviews with (4) female Cameroonian students
in Montreal, to understand what constitutes student food literacy when moving to a new country. The research questions are: (1) What is the source of knowledge about food for Cameroonian students recently arrived in Montreal and (2) Do they trust these sources of knowledge? The literature review pointed towards five important factors: health concerns; use of information through social media; culture and learning; constructivism and convenience. Data obtained from the interviews confirmed the importance of constructivist theory in learning; the increasing ease to access information through social media; nostalgia related to culture and maternal instruction and a large influence of individual differences in the context of globalization and immigration. Subjectivity and individual differences emerged as central in the process of gaining knowledge about food because not only does the meaning of food literacy change geographically, but also the information available to learners shifts constantly with new discoveries in the fields of health and food sciences. The mother figure and parental guidance are very present in the introduction of food literacy in Cameroon, but when Cameroonian students immigrate to another country, the maternal and parental influence, thus the cultural background have less influence in the food choices they make as compared to information gleaned from different social media platforms. Nonetheless, Cameroonian immigrant students in this study maintain some of the traditional influence on their level of food literacy at the same time as they expand their knowledge about food in their new environment, mainly through social media sources. In terms of learning and education applications, at a minimum, these narratives and the findings of this thesis point to the urgent need of better structured curricula for knowledge about healthy food habits for schools and for adult education contexts, programs and electronic platforms.