Researching Cows & Capitalism Leads to Trudeau Scholarship for SFU PhD Student

SFU Geography PhD student, Krista Macaulay often simplifies her research on food systems as studying “cows and capitalism”. However, her research, inquiry and the reasons behind it are much more complex and important to all Canadians. So much so that she is now a 2026 Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholar. 

Macaulay  wants to understand how British Columbia’s (BC) beef economy is “lived” along with the cultures surrounding and supporting it. She plans on following and tracking the entire cycle of BC cattle to Canadians’ kitchens and dining tables. 

“My research is going to be following cattle themselves through BC's beef economy. I'm going to go to the ranches, the abattoirs (processing plants), and the auctions as well as the rodeos, the policy tables, the agricultural expos, cattlemen's AGM, et cetera, to hear how it's lived in its fulsome,” says Macaulay. “And it's as I follow the cattle, I’ll also be following capital through land, labor, risk, political tensions, and other areas associated to this process.”

Her research specifically asks three questions: 1. How do cattle move through BC's beef economy and what does this reveal to us about how capitalism is lived, made and remade, or even resisted? 2. How do forms of value, meaning, and ideology make this system and shape it and the way its tensions and contradictions are understood and navigated? and, 3. What constraints, if any, shape the BC beef industry, and under what conditions might alternative ways of organizing our food system begin to emerge? 

Macaulay came to SFU with a master’s degree in city planning and years of experience working in different municipalities, organizations, private sectors, Indigenous communities and working on community building, food and housing. Her doctoral research is also supported by a SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarships-Doctoral Award. She has two daughters who inspired her in two ways to pursue her PhD as well as food systems and all that are linked to them.

The first motivator was that she wanted make the world a better place for her daughters and Canadian communities through food. 

“We’re all connected by it. When I talk to people and say I study food, their eyes light up, and they start talking about a story or an interest they have. I want to reimagine ways of living together and living together well,” says Macaulay. “Wayne Roberts, a late Canadian food activist, would say, ‘food is a lens and a lever for change’, and so I’m always asking, ‘How else could it be? Could I change it?’”

Secondly, Macaulay saw her daughters get excited about taking risks and challenges with new things.  

“I saw how beautiful it was for them to say, ‘I want to do something’, and they just did it.  And I asked, ‘Where is it in our adult life that we lose that motivation?’ So I thought about doing my PhD.” says Macaulay. 

After meeting with SFU Distinguished Professor, Geoff Mann, and discussing her interests alongside his areas of expertise, he agreed to supervise her doctoral research. 

Being a Trudeau Scholar will help financially support her through her research and studies over the next three years, while also providing her with extensive leadership, mentorship, and a community of scholars across Canada. 

Says Macaulay, “it's an incredible honor to be selected as a scholar.  Just hearing about others’ research I'm in constant awe of everyone around me and I can connect with them and I can add my voice to others or hear others’ and expand the reach of the stories that I'm hearing on the ground.” 

At home, she is grateful to have the support of her husband and parents. At SFU she has the invaluable support of her committee, which includes Drs. Geoff Mann and Tammara Soma (SFU) and Dr. Hannah Wittman from UBC, alongside a shared comradery of Geography graduate students that the Department has worked hard to structure. 

Macaulay sees and understands the connections that bring everyone together, like her idol, Dolly Parton. 

“My advisor gave me a pen. It says, ‘When I grow up, I want to be Dolly Parton.’ And I think, yes, this is so true. But it’s also a little bit of an ethos of how I live my life in its joyful conviviality. And it’s growing ever more important in a challenging world that never stops and can be overwhelming. I think that choosing to be like that in the real world with intention and love is important.” 

As Dolly Parton once said, “But if you’re going to dream, you’re going to have to get out and, like I always say, you have to put some wings on them dreams, and some feet and fingers and some hands. They gotta get into some stuff. You can’t just sit around and think of all the things you want to do. You’ve got to think of what you want to do, and then you’ve got to get out and make that happen.” 

And, because Macaulay has the support of the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation, her husband, family, supervisory committee and cohort of peers, she is poised to follow Parton’s advice to “put wings, feet, fingers and hands on her dreams” of helping to make Canadian food systems and food futures better and more sustainable.