Abstract

Although there is a strong call for engaged and decolonized research in cultural anthropology, very few structures are in place in universities to train and encourage graduate students in carrying research projects that take up these challenges. Born from the successful research collaboration between a Master’s student and Hayes Farm, a community farm in New Brunswick, this thesis aims to prove that change in research practices is both needed and possible. The research team used a community-based research approach and digital methods, including interviews, surveys and appreciative inquiry, to investigate how the community farm model could foster food sovereignty in New Brunswick. In parallel, a prominent focus was brought to the collaborative research process itself and to the nature of relationships, which are placed at the center of the Hayes Farm’s mission. A feminist ethics of care and an action-research framework were used to make sense of the research’s process and results. Key findings include that a community farm can best advance food sovereignty through its role as a connector and a healing space for the community, and that the relationships that are created and enacted through collaborative research are as much important as the outcomes that it produces in terms of knowledge.