Racial/ethnic inequities in diet quality and health during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada: Trends, experiences and policy solutions

Black Peoples, Indigenous Peoples and People(s) of Colour (BIPOC) often have poorer diets and health than people in the majority of the population because of the difficult conditions in which they live. The negative economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic may cause the diets and health of BIPOC peoples to fall further behind. This research will: 1) study how the diets and health of adults in Canada and in each of the provinces who identify as BIPOC changed from pre- to mid- to late-COVID, and whether not being able to afford enough healthy food can explain some of these trends; 2) interview BIPOC adults who could not afford enough healthy food during COVID in Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec to understand their experiences and the types of programs and policies that might help them to improve their diet and health; and 3) ask decision makers and BIPOC adults in Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec which programs and policies should be prioritized to improve the diets and health of BIPOC peoples going forward. This research will help us to understand how and why the diets and health of BIPOC peoples changed during COVID in Canada, and what it was like for BIPOC adults in Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec to go through these changes. It will also show which programs and policies decision makers and BIPOC adults think are the most important to protect the diets and health of BIPOC peoples in Canada going forward.