Cultivating connections: a sensory ethnography of medicinal plants among migrant mothers in Coventry, UK

Mothers often experience societal pressures around caregiving alongside physical and emotional transitions that shape their health and food practices. Migrant mothers, in particular, navigate additional challenges, including adapting to unfamiliar food environments and forming new social networks. This paper examines how sensory engagement in transformative spaces defined as environments that foster reflection, dialogue, and experiential learning can support these mothers through interactions with edible medicinal plants. Using a sensory ethnography approach, seven participatory workshops were conducted between June and December 2019 in Hillfield, Coventry, UK, followed by semi-structured interviews with three participants who attended most sessions. Thematic analysis of field notes and transcripts using MaxQDA12 highlights how engagement with medicinal plants serving as cultural and environmental anchors encouraged knowledge exchange, mutual support, and deeper connections to nature. Drawing on an ethics of care framework, the research shows how mothers related to the health benefits and uses of plants through sensory experiences, deriving pleasure from their aromas and flavors and forming emotional connections. These interactions sometimes challenged preexisting plant knowledge and prompted recognition of the interdependence between human and non-human species. The workshops supported migrant mothers by fostering dialogue, navigating their new food environment, and strengthening social ties through shared practices.