Media | Public Health & Urban Nutrition Research Group

Dr. Jennifer Black and members of the PHUN lab are often asked to provide expert advice on issues relating to nutrition and public health. Some of the media organizations they have appeared on include:

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J. Black and the Hungry Stories Interviewed and quoted for CBC article and aired on Radio Canada. March, 14 2026. “Un livre pour enfants sur l’insécurité alimentaire”.
J. Black interviewed and quoted for article in Vancouver Sun Adopt-A-School: Help us help schools feed children. Published Oct 14, 2025
J. Black and the Hungry Stories team write about Why we need to talk about the root causes of food insecurity for the Conversation. January 19, 2026
J.Black in the Vancouver Sun on the need for School Food Research and Evaluation, Oct 14, 2025: Just last year the federal government launched its National School Food Program promising to spend $1 billion over five years.
J. Black and G. Middleton in the Conversation, August 20, 2025: Glass half empty? Nutrition studies shouldn’t just focus on what parents do wrong
The Hungry Stories team featured in the Globe and Mail, March 7, 2025: B.C. academic challenges narrative on food insecurity in Canada by writing children’s novel
J. Black and S. Niimi-Burch in the Conversation, Sept 2024: So much mental load’: Mothers speak about school lunches
J. Black in Vancouver Sun, April 2024: National school food program announcement
J. Black quoted in Radio Canada, November 2023: Banques alimentaires : « Je pense qu’on n’est pas les seuls à faire appel à ces services »
J. Black quoted in the Globe and Mail, July 2023: Children in food-insecure homes visit doctors, ER more than peers, study says
J.Black explained why people avoid food banks, looking at 25 years of Greater Vancouver Food Bank data to understand food bank usage. Glacier Media via Vancouver is Awesome, Castanet, Pique Newsmagazine, Dawson Creek Mirror
U.Kader featured in the Vancouver Sun: Young adults living at home with their parents go under UBC researcher’s ‘microscope‘
U.Kader in UBC News: UBC researcher to study young adults who live with their parents
J.Black quoted in a Medscape article in August 2022: Food Insecurity Affects Nearly 1 in 6 Canadian Households
J.Black and R. Engler-Stringer in the Globe and Mail June 2022: Food programs should be part of school
C. Tugault-Lafleur on UOttowa News: How many children don’t eat lunch on school days in Canada? New study documents gaps of current school food programs (English | French)
J. Black quoted in a Theravive article: New study looks at food worry and mental health during the pandemic
J. Black quoted on UBC News: Heightened food worries linked to worse mental health during COVID-19 pandemic
- The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated lockdowns may have worsened worries over food insecurity among many Canadians and negatively impacted their mental health, according to a nationwide survey conducted during the first wave.
J. Black quoted in an article for Canada’s National Observer: COVID-19 hurting Canadians’ food security and mental health: StatCan
J. Black and Sinikka Elliott were quoted in an article for the Vancouver Sun: More families struggling with hunger during pandemic
S. Elliott and J. Black on Care is the secret ingredient in school lunch programs
- Feeding children is a crucial aspect of caring for them. Yet surprisingly, care is often overlooked in public conversations about school food.
J. Black on Tackling the problem of food insecurity
- How do you save more than four million Canadians from hunger? For food and health researchers Jennifer Brady, Elaine Power and Jennifer Black, the solution goes beyond food banks.
J. Black on More than food banks are needed to feed the hungry during the Coronavirus Pandemic
- Decades of evidence convincingly shows food banks have never remedied the inadequate or insecure access to food faced by Canadians, whether in booming economic times or faltering ones.
J. Black on The worst time for food banks to raise barriers to food
- A growing group of concerned food bank clients, volunteers, food security advocates, community organizations and researchers are asking the Greater Vancouver Food Bank to overturn their new policy.
J. Black on Starting April 1 food bank users will need to prove low-income status and address
- The Greater Vancouver Food Bank soon will begin means-testing its clients and collecting more data on users.
M. Valdes on Who is really eating meat-free? Studies offer widely varying answers
- When people self-report, a large number say they are vegetarian or vegan. But a UBC study with rigorous interviews has a totally different take.
C. Tugault-Lafleur on Food for thought: B.C. researchers see ‘significant decline’ in our fruit and vegetable consumption
- Poor diet quality a leading contributor to chronic diseases
C. Tugault-Lafleur on Canadian schoolchildren are eating better than they used to: study
- Schoolchildren in Canada ate higher quality foods but still not enough dark greens in 2015 compared to those in 2004, according to a new University of British Columbia study.
C. Tugault-Lafleur on Canadian school kids’ diet changes are ‘definitely good news’
- ‘Patchworks’ of school food programs vary in quality, lead author of study says
R. Mazac on Why Aren’t More Women Studying STEM in Canada?
- Three female students share what it’s really like to pursue a career in the still-male-dominated fields of science, tech, and mathematics and computer science.
J. Black and R. Mazac of the PHUN Lab are involved in a “nationally-significant” school food nutrition study. More information about the project can be found at: New for 2019: We’re launching a ground-breaking, district-wide school lunch program
- New Westminster Schools is kicking off a nationally significant initiative in early 2019 with the launch of Phase One of a district-wide, universally accessible, cost-shared lunch program.
- Researchers at the University of British Columbia and the University of Saskatchewan are evaluating New Westminster Schools’ program in partnership with the district and Fraser Health. Their work in Year 1 is supported by a $25,000 grant from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

Blogs

Mazac, R. (2019) Medium.com. Mar 18, 2019. Available at: https://medium.com/the-nature-of-food/canadas-food-guide-more-than-the-healthy-choice-3339d5b5899d
Tugault-Lafleur C.N., Black J.L (2017). Canadian Science Publishing Forum. Aug 23, 2017. Available at: http://www.cdnsciencepub.com/_pvwA4224269/blog/what-are-canadian-children-eating-at-school-and-how-can-eating-habits-be-improved.aspx

Television

G. Middleton interviewed by CBC news, April 2024 about her research on family meals
J.Black speaks to CBC about school meal programs in BC. Clip starts at 9:35
U.Kader featured in CTV News Vancouver: UBC studying the effects of living with parents in your 30s
Jennifer Black on how COVID-19 has heightened food security concerns among Canadians (January 2021)
Claire Tugalut-Lafleur on how things are changing in school cafeterias
Claire Tugault-Lafleur on vegetable consumption in Canada (March 2019)
http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/canadian-kids-eating-more-junk-food-less-nutritious-meals-during-school-hours-study-1.3557611
http://globalnews.ca/news/3690944/canadian-school-meals-nutrition-study/

Podcasts and Radio interviews

J. Black interviewed by Douglas Taren for the Podcast Nutrition Reviews: Conversation with the Authors, June 1, 2026. Episode Title:Towards a theory of ‘food care’: a review of health literature examining the processes of caring for the food needs of school-aged children
J. Black radio Interview with Lorraine Chisholm for Redeye, a public affairs program at Vancouver Cooperative Radio about the need to change the conversation around food insecurity in Canada. Aired: Jan 24, 2026 https://www.vcn.bc.ca/redeye/
U.Kader featured on an episode of On the Coast on CBC about her research
- Umay Kader speaks with Gloria Macarenko about her research — which is just about to get underway — and why she thinks it will be good to learn about this growing dynamic in Vancouver.
J. Black hosted an episode of the Ways of Knowing podcast: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the Sciences
- In this episode of Ways of Knowing, 2020 Wall Scholar Dr. Sheila Teves (Science) shares how her background as a Filipina immigrant has influenced her scientific journey. Hosted by 2020 Wall Scholar, Dr. Jennifer Black (Land & Food Systems).
J. Black on Spice Radio’s “The Morning Buzz”: Heightened food worries linked to worse mental health during COVID-19 pandemic. September 28, 2021.
J. Black on the Ways of Knowing podcast episode: Creating Connections Through Food
- Dr. Black discusses the role of food in creating connections and communities, the surprising impact of school lunch programs and how the pandemic has affected food security and mental health in Canada.
Food for Thought: Sustainability in food guidelines with Rachel Mazac. Brain Buzz Podcast. May 24, 2019. UBC. https://www.brainbuzzpodcast.com/episodes/2019/5/24/35n9qu3r31lid5ueeegjflq67txgb2
Radio Canada Première Chaine, Colombie Britannique (Phare Ouest). Aug 23, 2017 (French)
Corus Radio interview (Roy Green Show). Aug 27, 2017. https://omny.fm/shows/roy-green-show/hour-3-segment-4-claire-tugault-lafleur