The relationship of the burbot (Lota lota L.) to the reintroduction of off-the-land foods in the Sandy Lake First Nation Community

Assessing the Contribution of Traditional Foods to Food Security for the Wapekeka First Nation of Canada

The food security crisis and disproportionately high burden of dietary related disease amongst northern Indigenous populations in Canada continues to be a troubling reality with little sign of improvement. The Government of Canada is responding by developing programs to support local food initiatives for northern isolated communities. While such investments appear commendable, the impact of local food harvesting to improve food security has yet to be determined. While there are clear nutritional and cultural benefits to traditional food sources, communities face considerable barriers acquiring it in sufficient amounts because of historically imposed lifestyle changes that have increased food insecurity rates. This study responds by providing a novel multidisciplinary approach that draws from firsthand experiences working with First Nations community members in a remote subarctic region in northwestern, Ontario to estimate their community's total food requirement and the amount of wild animal food sources needed to sustain yearly food intake. This transferrable energy demand approach will be critical for policy makers to put into perspective the amount of wild food needed to have an impact on food security rates and ultimately improve dietary related diseases. Novelty: • It will provide government policy makers information about current harvest yields in a remote northern First Nation to understand the potential contribution of traditional food to improve local food security • Provides Indigenous communities a means to assess local food resources to measure the caloric contributions of traditional foods toward household food security.

Challenges in assessing food environments in northern and remote communities in Canada

Effective tools for retail food environments in northern and remote communities are lacking. This paper examines the challenges of conducting food environment assessments in northern and remote communities in Canada encountered during our experience with a food costing project. One of the goals of the Paying for Nutrition in the North project is to develop guidelines to improve current food costing tools for northern Canada. Paying for Nutrition illustrates the complex context of measuring food environments in northern and remote communities. Through the development of a food costing methodology guide to assess northern food environments, several contextual issues emerged, including retail store oligopolies in communities; the importance of assessing food quality; informal social food economies; and the challenge of costing the acquisition and consumption of land- and water-based foods. Food environment measures designed for northern and remote communities need to reflect the geographic context in which they are being employed and must include input from local residents.

Giving voice to food insecurity in a remote indigenous community in subarctic Ontario, Canada: traditional ways, ways to cope, ways forward

BACKGROUND

Food insecurity is a serious public health issue for Aboriginal people (First Nations [FN], Métis, and Inuit) living in Canada. Food security challenges faced by FN people are unique, especially for those living in remote and isolated communities. Conceptualizations of food insecurity by FN people are poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of food insecurity by FN adults living in a remote, on-reserve community in northern Ontario known to have a high prevalence of moderate to severe food insecurity.

METHODS

A trained community research assistant conducted semi-directed interviews, and one adult from each household in the community was invited to participate. Questions addressed traditional food, coping strategies, and suggestions to improve community food security and were informed by the literature and a community advisory committee. Thematic data analyses were carried out and followed an inductive, data-driven approach.

RESULTS

Fifty-one individuals participated, representing 67% of eligible households. The thematic analysis revealed that food sharing, especially with family, was regarded as one of the most significant ways to adapt to food shortages. The majority of participants reported consuming traditional food (wild meats) and suggested that hunting, preserving and storing traditional food has remained very important. However, numerous barriers to traditional food acquisition were mentioned. Other coping strategies included dietary change, rationing and changing food purchasing patterns. In order to improve access to healthy foods, improving income and food affordability, building community capacity and engagement, and community-level initiatives were suggested.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings point to the continued importance of traditional food acquisition and food sharing, as well as community solutions for food systems change. These data highlight that traditional and store-bought food are both part of the strategies and solutions participants suggested for coping with food insecurity. Public health policies to improve food security for FN populations are urgently needed.

Obesity and type 2 diabetes in Northern Canada's remote First Nations communities: the dietary dilemma

First Nations populations in Northwestern Ontario have undergone profound dietary and lifestyle transformations in less than 50 years, which have contributed to the alarming rise in obesity and obesity-related diseases, in particular type 2 diabetes mellitus. Even though the genetic background of First Nations peoples differs from that of the Caucasians, genetics alone cannot explain such a high prevalence in obesity and type 2 diabetes. Modifications in lifestyle and diet are major contributors for the high prevalence of chronic diseases. What remains constant in the literature is the persistent view that locally harvested and prepared foods are of tremendous value to First Nations peoples providing important health and cultural benefits that are increasingly being undermined by western-based food habits. However, the complexities of maintaining a traditional diet require a multifaceted approach, which acknowledges the relationship between benefits, risks and viability that cannot be achieved using purely conventional medical and biological approaches. This brief review explores the biological predispositions and potential environmental factors that contribute to the development of the high incidence of obesity and obesity-related diseases in First Nations communities in Northern Canada. It also highlights some of the complexities of establishing exact physiological causes and providing effective solutions.