Food insecurity a growing challenge in Canada's northern and remote Aboriginal communities

Seed Daily via SPX: A new expert panel report on food security in Northern Canada, has found that food insecurity among northern Aboriginal peoples requires urgent attention in order to mitigate impacts on health and well-being. Aboriginal Food Security in Northern Canada: An Assessment of the State of Knowledge, released by the Council of Canadian Academies, addresses the diversity of experience that northern First Nations, Inuit, and Metis households and communities have with food insecurity.

Aboriginal households across Canada experience food insecurity at a rate more than double that of non-Aboriginal households (27% vs. 12%, respectively). Recent data indicate that Canadian households with children have a higher prevalence of food insecurity than households without children.

A 2007-2008 survey indicated that nearly 70% of Inuit preschoolers aged three to five lived in food insecure households, and 56% lived in households with child-specific food insecurity. Preliminary evidence also indicates that more women than men are affected. The Panel concluded that lasting solutions require collaboration and the continued involvement of those most affected by food insecurity: people living in the North.

"To fully understand the issue of food security, consideration must be given to the many factors that influence life in the North, such as environmental change, culture, governance, and economies," said Dr. Harriet Kuhnlein, Chair of the Expert Panel. There are no silver-bullet solutions - that is why cooperation among all the key actors including local communities, governments, businesses and institutions is essential....

Photo by that incomparable photographer of the Arctic, Ansgar Walk, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license