The Costs of Local Food Procurement in Two Northern Indigenous Communities in Canada

Abstract

Remote Northern Ontario First Nations communities face severe food insecurity. Prices of store foods are often unaffordable and not always in stock. Government programs have been implemented to subsidize some of the market food costs. Our objective is to illustrate the costs associated with procuring food from the land through hunting and fishing in an effort to present this as an alternate option to relying solely on store-bought foods. Northern Ontario is an area of the world undergoing a rapid nutrition transition leading to high levels of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Despite this knowledge, little has been done to reverse this trend using land based foods, widely promoted as nutritionally beneficial. We conclude that estimated cost of food from the land requires significant energy and time, but remains economically comparable to food available instore. Further government support should be given to community hunters to make land-based food a viable option for a larger proportion of each community.

Retail food environments research in Canada: A scoping review

“…Methodological articles dealt exclusively with refining measures of food environment exposure rather than refining outcome measures in food environments research. The qualitative research to date has focused on how immigrants, 45,46 adolescents 47,48 and Indigenous peoples 20,21,49 navigate and experience retail food environments. The intervention research was diverse and employed a range of study designs, methods and relevant outcomes (see Table 2).…”

Environnement alimentaire de la vente au détail et expériences de magasinage dans les collectivités des Premières nations du nord des provinces

“…De plus, les lois provinciales sur la chasse ont criminalisé les pratiques de chasse des Autochtones et Sous le régime des pensionnats indiens du Canada, des centaines de milliers d'enfants autochtones ont été retirés de force de leur famille et de leur collectivité afin de fréquenter des écoles qui avaient été con çues pour les assimiler. Ces écoles ont euet continuent d'avoir -un effet profond sur la transmission intergénérationnelle des connaissances nécessaires à la récolte et à la préparation des aliments traditionnels 22 . Les changements climatiques ont aussi bouleversé les habitudes migratoires des animaux et réduit la capacité de l'humain de chasser et de pêcher 8 .…”

“…Malgré tout, la récolte, la préparation et la consommation d'aliments traditionnels restent profondé ment enracinés dans le tissu familial, cul turel et social des collectivités. Elles constituent un élément essentiel du bien être social et physique des Premières nations 8,22 .…”

Retail food environments, shopping experiences, First Nations and the provincial Norths

“…These schools had, and continue to have, a profound impact on the intergenerational transmission of the knowledge required to harvest and prepare wild foods. 22 Climate change has also altered animal migration patterns and reduced the ability of people to continue to hunt and fish. 8 Nevertheless, the harvesting, preparation and consumption of traditional foods remains deeply embedded in the familial, cultural and social fabric of communities and is an essential component of both the social and physical wellbeing of First Nations.…”

“…8 Nevertheless, the harvesting, preparation and consumption of traditional foods remains deeply embedded in the familial, cultural and social fabric of communities and is an essential component of both the social and physical wellbeing of First Nations. 8,22 After the Second World War, the federal government undertook a series of social welfare and food subsidy programs as well as education initiatives that had the effect of undermining Indigenous foodways and resulted in Indigenous people becoming increasingly reliant on southern market-based food systems. For instance, in the late 1960s, the federal government instituted a transportation subsidy for a select list of foods to be run through Canada Post, called the Food Mail Program.…”