Read Noel Guscott's Spotlight

Noel is an MA student in Political Science at Dalhousie. He holds a SSHRC CGS Masters Award, and is a member of the Food Policy Lab. He is an aspiring political and public policy scholar with research interests covering political theory, Canadian federalism and intergovernmentalism, health care federalism, and health care policy formulation. Noel served as a communications operator in the Canadian Armed Forces which inspired his Master’s thesis on the military healthcare system. In this spotlight, we chat about all things healthcare federalism, why Canada needs a universal healthcare system, how to write op-eds, Grocery Gateways, and where Noel loves to eat in Halifax!

What brought you to the food policy lab?

So, a couple of things brought me to the lab. I’ve always been into food and cooking, as well as politics and public policy in my university career, so it’s a good fit. But funnily enough, I actually met Cathy through my fiancé, Maddi. Cathy was looking for someone with a social science background to help with a food policy project and asked Maddi if she knew anyone. She recommended me and a meeting between Cathy and I was arranged. I remember I was so nervous to meet her that in anticipation I studied food policy and legislation. When I arrived at her office, she met me chip bag in hand and said, “Oh hi, I’m eating chips! Let’s chat!”

What is your work and academic background?

I spent 4 years in the Canadian Armed Forces as a communications operator, after an unsuccessful one and a half years at the University of Ottawa. That work instilled leadership, project management, coordination experience and practical work skills. After that, I moved to Halifax and enrolled at Dalhousie. My academic background is in political science, specifically in health policy and health politics. I became really interested in healthcare federalism and how intergovernmental relations impacts it. I have a myriad of other interests too ranging from political theory to the politics of outer space. I should also mention I am a first-generation student. Neither of my parents had university degrees and I am proud to say I have a BA in Political Science (Honors) and am finishing up my Masters Degree in Political Science in the fall. I realized no one is ever a drop out. Everyone just does things differently, and at a different pace.

What is the focus of you master’s thesis?

I am doing a historical analysis of the military healthcare system. Basically, I’m trying to determine the role budget austerity in the 1990’s played in the development of this healthcare system. I’m interested to see what that relationship might be. My preliminary work suggests there was some impact but more to follow. There has been a lot of policy work done related to veterans’ healthcare under this system but there’s a lot less literature regarding the military system as a whole.

Can you tell us a little about the military healthcare system?

The military has its own system in the sense that the clinics on bases are staffed with physicians and pharmacists that work for the federal government for the military. That’s because soldiers aren’t eligible for provincial coverage, so it’s on the feds. But there are some health services that the military doesn’t provide, and soldiers are either referred to go elsewhere or may go to a civilian hospital. Folks were technically only supposed to go with a referral or when the military clinic was closed, but that didn’t stop me. When I was in the military, I didn’t always receive the best healthcare and would go off base to receive support. With my insurance card in hand, I received full coverage through Bluecross via civilian healthcare facilities. I found this relationship fascinating in the sense that if the military is constitutionally obligated to provide healthcare, why were they working with the provinces to fill in gaps rather than being completely autonomous? My research is now suggesting that because of budget cuts in the 90s, there was a shift of the burden of care onto the provinces in exchange for additional financial support. This is a dynamic of federalism!

What are some key differences between the military and provincial healthcare system?

Full on dental care, pharmacare, mental health coverage and access to other tertiary services. In a way the military health system is a model of a truly universal healthcare system that Canada could have. There are definitely some asterisks there in the sense that it’s not perfect and I think leaders in that system know it’s not perfect.

Can you tell us a bit about the Grocery Gateways project?

At its core, Grocery Gateways is one project in two parts. We are trying to figure out what the current regulatory environment for food policy is and how that impacts retail stores specifically. We want to know how we can best promote population health and sustainability within retail businesses in order to make policy recommendations in the future that can support sustainability or health promoting practices in business.

Initially, this project was more political economy focused but the lens has shifted to include population and public health which is also the area our lab does the majority of its research.

The work started with the construction of a database of documents which included policies impacting retail food businesses in the Atlantic provinces of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador from all orders of government. Now we are doing stakeholder interviews, writing manuscripts and an op-ed at some point. The project certainly blossomed from when it began!

What were your expectations going into the research?

I had no expectations as I was new to food policy and didn’t know what to expect. A few weeks in, I developed one expectation which was I thought we were going to see examples of asymmetric or asymmetrical federalism. Meaning, there’s not an equal relationship between two orders of government: one has more authority over the other. My guess was that the federal government was going to be heavy handed in guiding policy. The reason being, they have money and in areas of shared responsibility, they hold more leverage. They become the regulatory standard bearer for food policy. That’s not to say the provinces don’t have a significant role, they are deeply connected to what goes on in their borders, whereas the feds deal with food passing between borders. But I would say we’ve found this asymmetric dynamic to exist within Canada.

I think there could also be an argument made that food stores aren’t really a priority because the food itself doesn’t spend a lot of time in a food store. Instead the burden of risk lands in food safety regulation in food production and transport. Food needs to be safe to consume and buy once it hits shelves. As a result, food stores aren’t a priority. So they tend to develop their own health and safety standards themselves which suit their needs.

Another key aspect is there is a lack of policy built around health promotion. Policy dictates that vital information about the food be shared, including manufacturing and ingredients, but if it is nutritionally deficient, you as the consumer have the autonomy to choose to purchase it or not. The assumption is that consumers are rational and utility maximizers and that if they are given the information they need, they should probably buy the healthy option, but it’s up to them. Of course, there are many factors to consider beyond just that, but this seems like a compelling narrative.

You’ve written a few successful op-eds in the last few years, can you tell us a bit about that writing process? Any helpful tips?

My method and process is to first identify the topic. You need to know what to write about. Identify your topic, central argument, audience and then write in plain language and revise. It is equally important to identify counter-arugments, qualify those, overcome them. Also, a key for op-eds is to have a hook in your first paragraph to entice the reader. For example, I used my own early life experience as a hook for an op-ed on food insecurity I wrote with Maddi last year. Also, be sure to do research on how to write an op-ed, there are a lot of guides that are useful, ask for advice from mentors and peers, read different op-eds and don’t be afraid to submit to an editor. There is a lot of trial and error to it.

What are your thoughts on Canada’s approach to healthcare system governance?

It’s funny, this is the broadest question, but I think it will be my shortest answer. It’s messy, and that’s mainly to do with when this settler-colonial country was founded, ideas and discourse, governance, and treatment of health were entirely different. We are operating in a constitutional framework of decentralized health care designed for the 19th and 20th centuries, in the 21st century. As a result, you are seeing lines of accountability being blurred because no one jurisdiction can manage this problem by themselves. The feds have the money, the provinces have the responsibility and they sometimes work together but sometimes they don’t. I think there have been some victories especially with the introduction of Tommy Douglas’ Medicare in Saskatchewan back in the 1950s which paved the way for what we have today, but it’s not perfect and there is room for improvement.

If Canada had universal healthcare, what would that look like?

I am biased on this topic, but I think Canada would be a much better place. Growing up in a low-income environment, there were so many barriers in place to receiving complex health coverage. For example, I didn’t see a dentist until I was 21. I am in a different place now and recognize my privilege, but I can’t imagine how challenging it would be for others living in this system and the barriers they might face. Blatant systemic racism still exists in the system. I think in the long term, it would be 100% beneficial for Canada to adopt a universal healthcare model. Healthcare is not just hospitals, it is medication, it is mental health, it is dental and other tertiary services. There are many facets to a healthy population.

Favourite place to eat in Halifax?

The Canteen in downtown Dartmouth.

Any advice for future FPL members?

This place is great! No matter your research background, you will be valued. Show up to learn because you will learn a lot if you are willing and able. The lab is inherently multidisciplinary and the skills you can learn here are up for the taking. We also love food, so what’s not to like!

Thanks Noel!

Read Laura Kennedy's Spotlight

Meet Laura, a rising star and member of the Food Policy Lab. She is a second year PhD in Health student at Dalhousie, researching healthy eating policies in the healthcare food environment. More recently, Laura’s work within Health Promotion saw the ban of flavoured vaping products in Nova Scotia. As registered nurse by trade, she believes in advocacy for healthy public policy development. We sat down with Laura to learn more about her journey to the Food Policy Lab.

Hi Laura, thank you for meeting with me.

Laura: Happy to be here!

Let’s start at the beginning, what brought you to the Food Policy Lab?

Laura: Well, a couple of things brought me here. Firstly, Cathy Mah, our director. She is a powerhouse and an advocate at all levels of policy – local all the way to provincial and federal. Cathy is someone who inspires and I was drawn to working and learning from her.

Second, I want to learn more about the research process. I have experience using research to advocate for change in government and in Nova Scotia Health. Now, I’d like to be the one conducting the research. I’m also really interested in healthy food environments and how we can make healthy choices easier choices. I believe policy is a key way to do that!

What is your work and academic background?

Laura: I am a registered nurse by profession, working in acute medicine and surgery in rural and urban Nova Scotia. I also spent three months in Angola volunteering in the operating room. I started seeing the “revolving door of health care” and that is in part what made me want to study public health. After I finished my master’s in public health, I worked in health promotion, specifically mental health and additions, focusing on delaying the age of first consumption. This means delaying the age of the first drink or first puff. For example, I've been a part of the advocacy for the vaping flavour ban.

When you say “revolving door of health care” what do you mean?

Laura: It’s the idea that we don’t actually fix health problems. People return to the hospital within days of being released. If we don’t consider the social and structural determinants of health this revolving door will continue to orbit.

What is your program and thesis topic?

Laura: I am in my second year of the PhD in Health Program at Dalhousie. I am researching healthy eating policies in healthcare food environments to determine how these policies impact eating. I am also interested in what healthcare workers think about their food environments.

You’ve recently had a paper published, can you tell us a bit about that?

Laura: We took an in-depth look at the healthy eating policy at Nova Scotia Health and then a scan of other policies across Canada with the concept of continuous quality improvement for health promotion in mind. There are few standards for what a healthy eating policy in healthcare looks like which means there is room for improvement. If we aren’t afraid to take risks and try new things, we can improve food environments.

What were some of your biggest takeaways from the research?

Laura: One key takeaway is how creative we can be when we think about data. For example, Nova Scotia Health looked at point of sales data to understand how retail interventions impact purchasing. They used something they were already collecting administratively to learn more about their food environments. Second, continuous quality improvement is important for understanding how and why things work. We incorporate quality improvement into clinical care all the time, but what about health promotion? How can we study health promotion interventions to see if they are making a difference? Continuous quality improvement can help us learn about our interventions in “real time” within practice based settings.

Congratulations on the NS Health Chris Power Leadership Development Fund – an award given to emerging and established leaders to advance health leadership in their domain of work! How did it feel to win?

Laura: It was an honour! Like me, Dr Power started off as a front-line nurse. I felt really inspired and proud to work in an organization that supports emerging leaders. I have worked with a lot of transformational leaders throughout Nova Scotia Health. This fund provides opportunities to share my research and inspire others. (Link to Dr. Power’s bio)

What is something interesting food related you’ve learned at your time in the lab?

Laura: Firstly, people in the lab either really like or dislike raisins and peas! There also never seems to be any shortage of food puns. But more seriously, food is medicine and has the ability to positively or negatively influence health outcomes!

What is something interesting non-food related you’ve learned at your time in the lab?

Laura: I’ve learned that research is about teamwork and that everyone brings their own perspectives and strengths to a team. It’s with these perspectives that we can refine our work.

What do you hope to do after you complete your PhD?

Laura: Nurses are an inspiring and important community voice. They are also one of the most trusted professions out there and can use their voices to advocate for policies and actions. I’d like to like to inspire nurses to be policy advocates.

Finding motivation in self-directed work can be extremely challenging, especially during a pandemic. How do you find motivation? Any tips and tricks you can suggest?

Laura: Staying connected! Find people who will refine your work and encourage you along the way. Although we may have to stay physically distanced there are ways to stay socially connected!

What is your favourite thing to do outside of work?

Laura: Hiking and biking along the coast and trying new coffee shops. I especially like when those two things intersect!

Do you have intersecting coffee shop recommendations?

Laura: I like the Bike and Bean in Tantallon.

What are some of the things you’d like future potential members of the lab to know?

Laura: Research is about teamwork. I used to think research was individuals working in silos, but now I see it as a collaborative process that draws out everyone’s individual strengths. The Food Policy Lab is a great setting to work with others and to learn about what you bring to the research team.

Thanks Laura!

Read Gabriella Luongo Spotlight

Gabriella is a PhD in Health student at Dalhousie, a member of the PhD Health Student Society Executive, and a member of the Food Policy Lab. She advocates for the development of healthy public policies and population level interventions as methods for reducing tobacco and poor diet based non-communicable diseases. She holds a CIHR Doctoral Research Award, a Nova Scotia Graduate Scholarship, and a Scotia Scholars Award (Doctoral). In this interview, we discuss the life cycle of a PhD Health student, her doctoral research, surviving burnout, and the subtle differences between the east and west coast food environments. We caught up with Gabriella over zoom.

Hi Gabriella, let’s start at the beginning. What brought you to the Food Policy Lab?

Gabriella: Definitely Cathy. I connected with Cathy while completing my Master’s of Public Health and was fortunate enough to take a year-long directed reading course with her in food environments and nutritional epidemiology. Her research program perfectly aligned with my research interests and I knew it was going to be a great match. Cathy and the other trainees in the FPL are brilliant in their respective research areas and I was flattered she wanted to bring me in and teach me the ropes. I don’t necessarily make decisions easily, but this was the simplest decision of my life!

What is your work and academic background?

Gabriella: I have a Bachelor of Science in Health Science from Simon Fraser University and Master’s of Public Health from the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. I am currently working towards my PhD in Health at Dalhousie University. Prior to that, I had a fun stint working in university admissions. Currently, I work for Health Canada in tobacco research as an epidemiologist. My work involves examining nicotine and tobacco use among the Canadian population. The research informs policies related to tobacco and nicotine use (i.e. e-cigarette and cigarette use), compliance and regulation work. It is a challenging and stimulating space to be in. I get to make an impact on the federal level rather than as an independent researcher. Food and tobacco are different but similar and it’s nice to split my time between the two.

How are food and tobacco research similar?

Gabriella: Both tobacco use and poor diet are the leading preventable risk factors for non-communicable diseases. Much of my work informs the development of supportive and healthy environments, whether that be through examining the characteristics of those who smoke or the type and quantity of food consumed by consumers. In both cases, we ask similar research questions and use comparable statistical approaches.

Can you tell us about your thesis topic?

Gabriella: My thesis is looking at the association between diet cost and dietary intake. There is an assumption that the more money you spend towards food, the better your diet quality is and there is a body of literature that supports that thinking. What I’m suggesting is the methods used to assign prices to diet can be improved. If we do a better job of assigning prices to intake, there might be a change in that relationship. This type of research has been conducted largely in the United States and France but has yet to be done in Canada. Regardless of the outcome, I think it will be interesting to see how the association plays out with Canadian data.

Why did you choose Dalhousie University?

Gabriella: I originally convinced myself that I was going to take time off after my MPH and work full-time for Health Canada but Cathy planted the seed and suggested I do my PhD at Dalhousie. Because of the independent nature of the PhD program, I felt like it was important that the school and the lab be a place to grow and learn. All those pieces fell into place for me and I knew this was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down.

As a PhD student, can you describe the program?

Gabriella: I am on track to complete the PhD Health program in four years. My first year comprised of seminar, methods and elective course work. You take seminar courses with the entire PhD Health cohort, which is great because you get to learn from students and faculty that aren’t in your specific area of study. After that, I spent the summer working on projects for the FPL. In second year, most will write their comprehensive exams as well as a thesis proposal. The exam comprises of writing three papers on topics related to your thesis and an oral defence to be completed in a 6-week window. I had my thesis proposal approved by my committee at the start of 2021, and I’ve spent the last couple of months working on my research project before it launches in June. I will spend the next academic year working on my independent research, collecting data as well as other projects in the lab like the CELLAR project. I’m completing a thesis-by-manuscript, so the goal is to publish papers that align with the objectives of my thesis. At the end of my final year I will defend my research and findings. There are a lot of deadlines so I want to get as much done as I can as early as possible.

Has any of your work been halted or greatly impacted by COVID-19?

Gabriella: No and I am grateful for that. Towards the end of last year, I had classes and exams move to online. I moved home to Vancouver because of the pandemic, so there were a few early mornings because of the time change, but otherwise I was lucky. Thankfully my thesis isn’t impacted because it doesn’t involve working with people or in public spaces. Our lab had a nice in person flow which I miss. We had such organic conversations in the lab about research, life events, and food (of course!) and sadly that doesn’t really happen anymore since we moved to online. But we do still make a point of connecting when we can!

We as lab and academic community, talk openly about burnout. Is this something you’ve experienced?

Gabriella: Definitely! This is something I’ve felt more frequently through COVID-19. At the start of the pandemic, I found with working from home and having less of a social life, I was always working. There is also this assumption in academia that it’s competitive and in order to stay ahead you should always be working. But I’ve realised that this is not sustainable and it’s important to take breaks.

Any advice for finding motivation and surviving the burnout?

Gabriella: Having people in your corner and a sense of community is so important. There is always work to do and I sometimes lose sight of taking breaks but Cathy is encouraging of taking time off, especially when you hit that wall. Having her modelled behaviour and weekly check-ins with the other PhD students has been really helpful. I also take advantage of sunny days and make sure I get sleep!

Having now had experience living on both the east and west coast, is there anything distinct you’ve noticed about each respective food environment?

Gabriella: I want to preface this by saying that I live in a suburb on the west coast and I was living in downtown Halifax at the time. Halifax has a food environment that feels closer to the food supply. I did the majority of my shopping at the Halifax Farmers Market which really emphasized that feeling as I purchased seasonal vegetables, fruits and goods at mostly reasonable prices. I would play this game with my parents where they’d guess the price of the produce. It also forced me to cook things I wouldn’t have normally. I consider Halifax to be a food accessible city and it is one of the things I miss the most.

Favourite place to eat in Halifax?

Gabriella: I didn’t do a whole bunch of eating out but a place a remember well was Edna. When I first moved to Halifax, Cathy sent me a very long list of places to try and this was extremely helpful because I knew where to start and where to avoid. When my partner came to visit, we went to Edna and it was the best! While we waited for our table we went to LF bakery and had croissants and bread, which was also delicious! I look forward to being back in Halifax to visit the rest of the places on Cathy’s list!

Favourite place to eat in Vancouver?

Gabriella: I live at home and we don’t eat out often. But my friend and I go for a weekly walk to FDL Café where they make pastries fresh every day. We get there early in the morning before they sell out. I also love Glenburn Soda Fountain and Confectionery! You can’t go wrong with ice cream and baked goods.

Anything you’d like future members of the lab to know?

Gabriella: If you are interested in food policy, FPL is the place to be. We are very collaborative group of masters and PhD students that work hard to create a supportive research environment. Each lab member has a distinct yet interconnected research project so there are lots of opportunities for collaboration and learning. Come for the snacks, stay for the research!

Thank you, Gabriella!