'I know what's gone into it': Canadian farmwomen's conceptualisation of food safety

The purpose of this paper is to understand how Canadian farmwomen conceptualise food safety within the context of their daily food provisioning activities. We conducted a conventional qualitative content analysis of interview transcripts from a study that explored the food provisioning practices of farmwomen in Alberta (n=6), Ontario (n=6), and Nova Scotia (n=10). Farmwomen provided a conceptualisation of food safety that appears to stem from their dual role as food producer and gatekeeper of the family meal. As food producers, they have an intimate knowledge of primary food production practices; as gatekeeper of the family meal, they draw on this knowledge to provide safe food for their families, either by growing or raising it themselves, obtaining it from local, trusted producers, or purchasing food that has been subject to Canada's food safety regulatory system, which safeguards the food produced in Canada. By knowing what has gone into their food, farmwomen feel that they are able to provide healthy, quality food for their families.