Wild at Heart

How Informal Learning Experiences Occur at the Local Wild Food Challenge

Authors

  • Ingrid Kajzer Mitchell Royal Roads University
  • Will Low Royal Roads University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.56105/cjsae.v38i01.5850

Keywords:

food festival, informal adult learning, transformative learning, sustainable ways of living, wild food

Abstract

This case study explores the adult learning experience of participants at a food festival, the Local Wild Food Challenge (LWFC). Food festivals, where participants engage in multisensory experiences within a “foodscape,” have the potential to facilitate different informal adult learning processes. Whether incidental or intentional, the learning experienced at the LWFC also fits instrumental and communicative learning paradigms, which are precursors to transformative learning. Learning about and reflecting on new ways to gather, harvest, and prepare wild foods can in turn build the foundation for critical self-reflection around food self-sufficiency, as well as a subtle shift in frames of reference regarding wild foodscapes that lie beyond mainstream corporate food systems. Thus, the study positions the food festival as an important site for informal adult learning, potentially opening participants up to learning about alternative sustainable ways of living.

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Published

2026-06-10

How to Cite

Kajzer Mitchell, I., & Low, W. (2026). Wild at Heart : How Informal Learning Experiences Occur at the Local Wild Food Challenge. Canadian Journal for the Study of Adult Education, 38(01). https://doi.org/10.56105/cjsae.v38i01.5850

Issue

Vol. 38 No. 01 (2026): Adult Education and Sustainability

Section

Articles

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