8. International Students and Food Security

Students living in a foreign environment and the availability of culturally appropriate food is the topic of this chapter. The study considers the desire of diverse cultural groups to have access to familiar food and the security that comes from sharing food with family and friends. In-depth interviews with individuals concerned with accessing culturally appropriate food provided the empirical material for this chapter. For students living away from family networks, food security tends to be associated with cultural and social capital. The study reveals that students and parents give little thought to food security when relocating to a foreign environment and consequently students often found it difficult to access culturally suitable food.