Valerie Tarasuk Ph.D.
| Professor
Department of Nutritional Sciences Faculty of Medicine Tel: (416) 978 0618 |
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Research
Valerie Tarasuk's research interest is in the study of social and economic determinants of health and nutrition. Much of her work focuses on problems of domestic food insecurity, considering their origins and nutrition implications and examining current policy and program responses. Parallelling this focus on food security is an ongoing interest in Canadian food policy and population-level nutritional assessment. Recent research projects have included an ethnographic study of front-line work in food banks, a study of nutritional vulnerability and food insecurity among women in families using food banks in Toronto, and an examination of social assistance benefit levels in relation to costs of basic needs. Current research initiatives include a study of food access, nutritional vulnerability and social exclusion among homeless youth in Toronto, a study to examine local responses to the food and nutrition needs of homeless groups, and an analysis of Statistics Canada food expenditure data to elucidate the interrelationships between social, economic, and regional factors and food consumption patterns within different population subgroups.
Recent Publications