Food in Institutional Settings in Ontario: Health Equity Perspectives Laura Anderson and Seong-gee Um July 2017 Wellesley Institute works in research and policy to improve health and health equity in the GTA through action on the social determinants of health. [...] This land is the territory of the Huron-Wendat and Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River. [...] The territory was the subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy and Confederacy of the Ojibwe and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. [...] When we consider the right to health, and good food as a fundamental component for ensuring an individual’s health, it becomes clear that we aren’t affording many residents of these institutions in Ontario the right to adequate food and nutrition and thereby ensuring good health. [...] For individuals eating food in institutional settings, having unfamiliar foods and disparate cultural preferences can negatively affect their food intake and nutritional status.11 Culturally appropriate meals can promote food intake, which in turn can reduce the risk of malnutrition and unintended weight loss.12 Finally, food that is safe to consume is another important contributor to good health.