Nunavut Food Insecurity
This case study was written for my class Ecological Justice: Patterns of Oppression and Healing at Naropa University.
Food security is a condition in which all people have sufficient physical and economic access to safe, culturally appropriate and nutritious foods that meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (Egeland, G.M., 2010). Subsequently, food insecurity is evident by reduced food intake, reliance on low quality foods and disrupted eating patterns (Egeland, G.M., 2010). Canada is the only developed country in the world with a population that suffers from moderate to severe food insecurity (Action in Canada, 2014) with much higher rates in our indigenous communities (Egeland, G.M., 2010). Nunavut, with a population of 70% Inuit (Inuit Nunangat) is affected more than any other province or territory in Canada by household food insecurity (Walker, May 26, 2017) and is experiencing food insecurity at rates more than three times higher than the national average (Guo, Y. et al. 2015). Food insecurity in Nunavut is a textbook example of environmental injustice as it is comprised of an Indigenous population that was recently colonized, is located in isolated Arctic communities, and is losing its ability to practice traditional food sovereignty.
Food insecurity in Canadian Arctic communities is extremely high. In 2012, 62.2% and 31.6% of children lived in food-insecure households in Nunavut and Northwest Territories, respectively (Ruiz-Castell, 2015). Comparatively, only 14% of households in Canada experienced food insecurity (Ruiz-Castell, 2015). Some Inuit adults are at a higher probability of experiencing food insecurity, including women, those who have children, elders, those relying on income support, those who are living in crowded housing, and those with weaker family relations (Statistics Canada, February 01, 2017). Sadly, 70% of Inuit preschool children live in food insecure households (Egeland, G.M., 2010). Almost two-thirds of those under 18 are living in households that are food insecure, and over a half of Inuit Nunangat aged 25 and over live in a household that experienced food insecurity over the span of one year (Statistics Canada, February 01, 2017). There is no question that food insecurity in Nunavut is a national crisis that has been conveniently tucked away from Canada’s collective mind by its isolated Arctic borders.
According to Canada’s 2016 Food Report Card, Nunavut received a D grade for household food security for youth and adults aged 12 and older. This grade was based on 2011-2012 Statistics Canada data that compared 63 food performance metrics organized around industry prosperity, healthy food and diets, food safety, environmental sustainability, and household food security (Walker, May 26, 2017). The Northwest Territories received a B in the latter category, while Yukon and all the provinces received an A (Walker, May 26, 2017).
In 2007-2008 a cross-sectional Inuit Child Health Survey was conducted through randomly selecting Inuit children aged three to five years in 16 of the 25 communities within Nunavut (Egeland, G.M., 2010). This survey aimed to investigate the prevalence of food security, or food insecurity in Inuit households with preschool children (Egeland, G.M., 2010). This study found that 31 % of Inuit children were moderately food insecure and 25.1% were severely food insecure, creating an overall prevalence of child food insecurity at 56.1 % (Egeland, G.M., 2010).
Food insecurity is a symptom of a larger social problem also expressed as other important public health issues that contribute to a number of negative physical and mental health outcomes (Statistics Canada, February 01, 2017). Food security is an essential part of public health and is extremely important for child development. Suboptimal food security has been known to create deleterious effects on children’s academic performance and psychosocial development (Egeland, G.M., 2010). Primary caregivers in households where children were reported to be severely food insecure stated that their children had had to skip meals in the past year (75.8%), went hungry (90.4%), or did not eat for a whole day (60.1%) (Egeland, G.M., 2010). In households where children were experiencing moderate food insecurity primary caregivers reported experiencing times in the past year when they worried food would run out (85.1%), when they fed their children less expensive food (95.1%) and when their children did not eat enough because there was no money for food (64.3%) (Egeland, G.M., 2010).
The statistics representing Inuit children experiencing food insecurity are staggering, yet as stated earlier food insecurity also severely affects Nunavummiut youth and adults. In September of 2012, a survey conducted in the city of Iqaluit, Nunavut's Capital, examined the impact that seasonal prevalence had on food security in Iqaluit (Guo, Y., 2015). Among the 446 Iqaluit households (Inuit and non-Inuit) 71.3% were food secure and 28.7 % were food insecure, which is lower than the rate of Inuit food insecurity in smaller Nunavut communities. Although Iqaluit has more resources, in terms of food banks, shelters, and community food programs, the majority of Iqalummiut have less access to traditional country food, that is food harvested from the land, including primarily berries, char, caribou, seal, whale and muskox. In smaller communities, a high degree of daily contact with extended family and participation in traditional food-sharing networks is very common (Egeland, G.M., 2010). Such support systems may, to some degree, help families with young children cope during money and food shortages (Egeland, G.M., 2010). Traditional country foods are also rich in nutrients, contribute to the higher dietary quality and can promote good health in Inuit communities (Egeland, G.M., 2010). Contrarily, when country food is harvested in Iqaluit the number of people wanting country food is much greater than what hunters can supply, so hunters usually only supply for their immediate family (Guo, Y., 2015).
Guo’s study suggest that country food consumption, traditional knowledge and sharing networks may play a less important role in larger Inuit communities (2015). This study also found that food insecurity was not associated with seasons and that food insecurity was strongly associated with ethnic origin with rates of food insecurity among Inuit households nine times higher than non-Inuit households in September 2012 and 11 times higher in May 2013 (Guo, Y., 2015). These results highlight the persistence of socio-ethnic gradients in food insecurity in northern Canada and suggest that the factors that affect the vulnerability of households to food insecurity may be different between large and small Inuit communities in Canada (Guo, Y., 2015).
With the arrival of the first Europeans over 400 years ago Inuit began to engage in trading and slowly acquired many foreign possessions, such as guns, flour, wool, and much more (Action in Canada, 2014). In time, the Canadian government became very interested in the north as a source of raw materials such as oil and precious metals and needed permanent communities to claim sovereignty over the vast expanses (Brockman, A., January 16, 2019). Their solution was to forcefully establish sedentary Inuit communities across the north (Brockman, A., January 16, 2019). Dog teams, vital to the Inuit way of life were slaughtered by the RCMP, to ensure these communities stayed put and once Catholic missionaries became aware of Inuit, many moved to Nunavut with a mission to educate and convert the Inuit (Action in Canada, 2014). Canadian residential schools were government-sponsored religious schools that were established in an attempt to assimilate indigenous children into European culture (Residential Schools in Canada, n.d.). From the 1800’s to 1996 children were forcibly removed from their families and community and taken sometimes thousands of kilometers away to southern schools where they had little or no contact with home (Residential Schools in Canada, n.d.). With the removal of children from families came the intended erasure of traditional knowledge (Residential Schools in Canada, n.d.). “Relocations into permanent communities sometimes thousands of kilometers away from familiar animal migration patterns marooned hunters; expectation of a sedentary lifestyle coupled with a lack of wage-based labor encouraged idleness, often leading to alcohol and other abuses” (Action in Canada, 2014). A major consequence of this assimilation tactic is that traditional hunting knowledge and practice is no longer accessible to every young Inuk; and now many Inuit rely on store-bought food, much of it high in salt, sugar, and unhealthy fats, which is shipped north at an astronomically high cost (Action in Canada, 2014).
A survey conducted by the Nunavut Bureau of Statistics in 2013 found that, on average, food prices were 140 percent higher in Nunavut than the rest of Canada (Skura, E., June 24, 2016). For example, a one kilogram bag of carrots can cost $6.90, compared to an average southern Canadian grocery store price at $2.25. A 2.5-kilogram bag of flour is about $13.70 in Nunavut, 2.7 times more than the average Canadian price of $5.00 (Skura, E., June 24, 2016). From my personal experience I have witnessed stores in Nunavut shamelessly sell expired, moldy, and rotten food items without a price reduction.
There are many layers contributing to the severe food insecurity crisis in Nunavut; but there are also multiple organizations working towards systems change which targets the root cause and/or symptoms. Some of the most crucial developments in recent years have been national and international attention through a range of different platforms. In May of 2012, a visit from United Nations Special Rapporteur marked the first United Nations investigation of food security in a developed country (Wakegijig, J., 2013). In the same year “Feeding My Family”, a facebook group, became the fastest growing Facebook group in history, as it shed light on the diabolical prices of food throughout the territory (Wakegijig, J., 2013). Food price protests and not for profit organizations have also been a huge help in the fight for food justice in Nunavut (Wakegijig, J., 2013). During November of 2011, the Nunavut Food Security Coalition was created as a unique collaboration between multiple organizations and has led to the development of a sustainable partnership that informs policy development while representing the voice of Nunavummiut (Wakegijig, J., 2013). The Nunavut Food Security Coalition, a partnership of Inuit Organizations and the Government of Nunavut, is collaborating to develop a territorial food security strategy to address pervasive food insecurity in the context of poverty reduction (Wakegijig, J., 2013).
Some have argued that one of the best ways to end food insecurity in Nunavut is to increase communities’ self-sufficiency and provide food that is local, culturally appropriate, and nutritious. This would include increase access to hunting and gathering of local animals and plants. Currently, hunting is often a part-time or weekend activity, which means hunters are less able to travel further distances which often decreases chances of hunting (Action in Canada, 2014). The high price of shipping in Nunavut also means that hunting gear is increasingly expensive and more difficult to obtain the more isolated the fly-in communities are (Action in Canada, 2014). The government of Nunavut has launched programs that subsidize hunter’s costs of boats, ski-doos, guns, bullets, and gas as well as a Country Food Distribution Program that could potentially pay for a community freezer and community distributions infrastructure (Country Food Distribution Program, n.d.). In 2012, the Country Food Distribution Program provided close to $4 million in funding over three years to help isolated municipalities feed themselves (Gatehouse, J, August 20, 2012).
Traditionally, Inuit lived a nomadic life in which they could pursue and follow food resources where they were geographically and seasonably available. The Arctic ecosystem is not exceptionally diverse or productive and sedentary communities can quickly deplete surrounding food resources. Traditional foods are disappearing; caribou are all gone from Baffin Island and char runs in Iqaluit, the place of many fish in Inuktitut, are a mere fraction of what they were a decade ago. Better snowmobiles, boats and ATV’s allow hunters to harvest resources further from their communities, and in fact maps of hunting activities by Nunavut hunters show that much of the territory is actively hunted. The selling of caribou, muskoxen and other country foods is actively promoted and sold on social media (an activity that is illegal throughout much of North America). A community group in Iqaluit, Nunavut’s largest community, established a country food market in 2010 (Gatehouse, J, August 20, 2012). The monthly market is held in a community square beside a local grocery store that is situated right beside the beach, allowing hunters to drive right up on their snowmobiles or ATVs with trailers full of meat or fish (Gatehouse, J, August 20, 2012). Elders are offered first choice at the Arctic Char, wild berries, seal, walrus, clams, ptarmigan, seaweed, and other traditional delicacies; "It all sells out in about 10 minutes," says Willie Hyndman, the executive director of Project Nunavut "It doesn't matter if it's the middle of a blizzard, there are always about 150 people waiting." (Gatehouse, J, August 20, 2012). Supply obviously cannot meet demand. More, bullets, snowmobiles and boats is not the answer. So what is?
The Inuit culture was once nomadic and the population small, less than 20,000 people across the entire territory. They could live off the land, but no more. Traditional activities on the land should be encouraged, because that is who they are. Further commercialization of a vulnerable wildlife resource will be quick way of further diminishing their culture and identity.
Food insecurity is a symptom of economic insecurity. There is lots of food in Nunavut if you can pay for it. You can eat steak from Alberta, lobster from Newfoundland and lettuce from California. You can eat watermelon above the arctic circle, but it might cost you $70.00. The most important issue that must be tackled in order to reduce food insecurity is raising people out of poverty. This is not a simple task as 34.2% of Nunavut’s population is living in poverty (Nunavut Poverty Progress Profile 2016, December 01, 2016); no wonder so many Nunavummiut, children and adults alike are experiencing moderate to severe food insecurity.
The Nunavut Food Security Coalition stated that “Nunavut's approach to improving food security is embedded in a larger mobilization towards poverty reduction and how this work is being coordinated through partnerships and intersectoral action” (Wakegijig, J., 2013).After surviving an attempted ethnocide and the erasure of Inuits nomadic lifestyle the Canadian government’s expectation of Inuit to integrate into a labor economy in less than a century has largely not been met. Many Inuit are considered unskilled and unhireable, with many of these problems stemming from residential school PTSD and patterns of substance abuse and addiction. Building an educated and hireable population and, providing opportunity for economic prosperity will pull many out of poverty. If this was easy it would have been done long ago. Coalitions of federal and territorial governments and community groups are key to bringing about change and providing meaningful and well-paying employment.
Raising many out of poverty and food insecurity is going to take time and a lot of effort. As a country it is our job to give our citizens a helping hand, through education, opportunity and subsidies so they can help themselves in a manner that enables them to become more prosperous and food secure.
References
Action in Canada. (2014). Hunger in Nunavut: Local food for healthier communities [report]. pp. 1-14. Retrieved from: http://www.actioncanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/TF-3-Hunger-in-Nunavut-EN.pdf
Brockman, A. (2019, January 16). Ottawa to apologize for forced relocation of Ahiarmiut in Nunavut | CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/federal-government-apology-ahiarmiut-forced-relocation-1.4980762
Country Food Distribution Program. (2019, April 02). Retrieved from https://gov.nu.ca/edt/programs-services/country-food-distribution-program
Egeland, G. M., Pacey, A., Cao, Z., & Sobol, I. (2010). Food insecurity among Inuit preschoolers: Nunavut Inuit Child Health Survey, 2007-2008. Canadian Medical Association Journal,182(3), 243-248. doi:10.1503/cmaj.091297
Gatehouse, J. (2012, August 20). Muskox on the menu | Maclean's | AUGUST 20, 2012. Retrieved from http://archive.macleans.ca/article/2012/8/20/muskox-on-the-menu
Guo, Y., Berrang-Ford, L., Ford, J., Lardeau, M., Edge, V., Patterson, K., & Harper, S. L. (2015). Seasonal prevalence and determinants of food insecurity in Iqaluit, Nunavut. International Journal of Circumpolar Health,74(1). doi:10.3402/ijch.v74.27284
Nunavut Poverty Progress Profile 2016. (2016, December 01). Retrieved from https://www.cwp-csp.ca/resources/resources/nunavut-poverty-progress-profile-2016
Residential Schools in Canada. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/residential-schools
Ruiz-Castell, M., Muckle, G., Dewailly, É, Jacobson, J. L., Jacobson, S. W., Ayotte, P., & Riva, M. (2015). Household Crowding and Food Insecurity Among Inuit Families With School-Aged Children in the Canadian Arctic. American Journal of Public Health,105(3). doi:10.2105/ajph.2014.302290
Skura, E. (2016, June 24). Food in Nunavut still costs up to 3 times national average | CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/nunavut-food-price-survey-2016-1.3650637
Statistics Canada. (2017, February 01). Insights on Canadian Society Food insecurity among Inuit living in Inuit Nunangat. Retrieved from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75-006-x/2017001/article/14774-eng.htm
Wakegijig, J., Osborne, G., Statham, S., & Issaluk, M. D. (2013). Collaborating toward improving food security in Nunavut. International Journal of Circumpolar Health,72(1), 21201. doi:10.3402/ijch.v72i0.21201
Walker. (2017, May 26). Nunavut gets failing grade on food security. Retrieved from https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/nunavut-gets-failing-grade-food-security
