There are 3 broad areas where basic research would be of immense value (please note that students are at liberty to pursue any/all three areas or keep their focus on 1 element):

Regulatory Landscape: Many indigenous communities in Canada have specific herd-grazing and hunting rights. An in-depth assessment of current hunting and herd-grazing regulations pertaining to Indigenous communities enforced by the Minister of Crown–Indigenous Relations would be of great interest.

Certification Landscape: Through this element of the project students will engage in understanding the certification landscape for high value produce. This includes of course certifications such as fair trade, organic, as well as others addressing animal welfare, GMO, first nations or tribal specific, etc. This project will aim to assess these certifications on meaningful dimensions such as recognition, volume of product certified, and alignment with goals.

Market players: This component is about understand the existing markets (provinces/states and/or cities) where such treatment of food is more prevalent and understand how major players in these markets are presenting the story associated with the food they are serving. Who are the key chefs that may be both willing to experiment with bison as well as influencers and trendsetters for others to follow?

-Provide an assessment of current hunting and herd-grazing regulations pertaining to Indigenous communities enforced by the Minister of Crown–Indigenous Relations

-Provide an accurate and useable assessment of the food/produce certification market in North America.

-Identify key markets (cities likely) of interest

-Provide insight into how the issue may be framed appropriately and conveyed successfully

-Identify key change agents (chefs or other)