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FOOD INSECURITY IN INDIGENOUS POPULATION 1 Food Insecurity in Indigenous Population Nadine Uwizeye Department of Native Studies NATV 1220, A02: Native Studies Shauna Mulligan 16 th July 2021

FOOD INSECURITY IN INDIGENOUS POPULATION 2 Food is a basic need required for human survival; it provides nutrients needed for the human body’s functioning. Food security can be defined as “the access by all people at all times to nutritionally adequate, safe, personally acceptable foods from normal food channels” (Sizer et al., 2021). Food insecurity is uncertain or limited access to foods of sufficient quantity or quality and this problem is exacerbated amongst Indigenous communities in Canada. Research shows that 75% of First Nation communities found in Northern Manitoba have the problem of food insecurity makes it a major health issue in the community (Fieldhouse & Thompson, 2012). Access to food security helps individuals to have good health and disease prevention, but Indigenous population still have the problem of food insecurity which makes them suffer from many diseases and affects their daily life, leading to medical complications such as chronic diseases like heart disease, high blood pressure as well as death. Indigenous communities in Canada have the highest food insecurity rate than other races in Canada (Fieldhouse & Thompson, 2012), and this is mainly because of colonialism like the loss of the right to the land, residential schools, and access to traditional foods, languages, and culture. Industrial food procurement and storage, climate change, access to safe drinking water, as well as income level. All these lead to different poor health outcomes. Food insecurity can be solved if different parties involved joining hands. First Nation, Metis, or Inuit face the highest rates of food insecurity in Canada, which has been a serious issue over the years because they are the leaders when it comes to dealing with food insecurity (Fieldhouse & Thompson, 2012). Many Indigenous populations do not have the access to traditional food because of many reasons such as population growth, land degradation, which contributed to the lack of traditional food. Thus, it leads to food insecurity to Indigenous populations by having access to other food which contains many calories like soft drinks which

FOOD INSECURITY IN INDIGENOUS POPULATION 3 contain a lot of sugar. These food types are known to be cheap and cause Indigenous population to have food insecurity because it is easy to get them as they are not expensive. Scientist shows that this change in the food system causes some individuals to have obesity, anemia, and dental caries (Fieldhouse & Thompson, 2012). Food security affects disproportionally Indigenous communities than other non- Indigenous Canadians, food insecurity affects 11.1% white Canadians, 28.2% of Indigenous off- reserves, and 50.8% Indigenous on-reserves, statistics Canada 2018. Food insecurity affects 1.15 million children under the age of 18 or one in 6 Canadian children, this number has been on the rise since 2007, according to statistics Canada. For Indigenous communities living in developed countries approximately more than two children in three children under the age of 18 are affected by food insecurity. The origin of food insecurity in Indigenous population dates back from the settlement of the Europeans, and their colonial policies, like loss of the right to the land while they have always had a special link to the land and the environment like seas, oceans, and forest as they lived in these places. The introduction of this western culture forced them to abandon their traditional way of living and forced them to accommodate to a new food, forced them to speak their language and adapt to the new culture, multiple discriminations that some of them are still present nowadays continues to affect their physical and mental well-being. This situation has only gotten worse due to climate change and pollution which affects the procurement as well as storage of traditional food even if Indigenous contributes the least to greenhouse emissions (Loppie & Wien, 2021). Due to lack of infrastructure for processing food production, transportation and access to safe drinking water are some of the factors that cause Indigenous population to face food insecurity which also leads to a health crisis and some Indigenous populations do not have access

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FOOD INSECURITY IN INDIGENOUS POPULATION 4 to health care (Fieldhouse & Thompson, 2012). The study showed that Indigenous population experiences a lot of the number of double mortality rate than the other population because of food insecurity. Indigenous women do not get healthy food during their pregnancy which leads to the implications of infant health, as the child cannot get enough nutrients in the womb. A higher number of Indigenous women do not get the test for the mammography, additionally, they do not do the test to see if the fetus has better health before the birth and this leads them to be more likely to face a higher number of mortality than other races of women (J. McKenzie et al., 2018). Access to cultural food contributes to the food insecurity of some Indigenous populations. Some adults used to consume only traditional food and it is hard for them nowadays to get their traditional food because of the change of environment. The seasonal changing contributes to food insecurity, for instance, during winter people cannot cultivate their land to get food and some crops take a long time to grow when cultivated during summer; land degradation has had a significant effect on what kinds of foods can be produced, as well as if they are able to be produced. The adults face food insecurity in this way because they cannot consume foods other than their traditional food (Power, 2007). Some do not consume other foods like snacks just to prevent themselves from chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. The traditional food is so important as a lot of it come from plant and the dietician advice the communities to consume products from the plant as it contains few calories and some products from the plant are medicine. (Power, 2007). Research has shown that the effects of residential schools get passed on to generations, parents who went to residential schools did not get the chance to see a normal family meal preparation, this led them to struggle to prepare meals for their own families and often found

FOOD INSECURITY IN INDIGENOUS POPULATION 5 themselves getting frustrated over things that other people do not struggle with. This left them no other choice other than going to fast-food restaurants since these are not as costly, but they are less healthy compared to homemade food and struggle with limited finances especially the ones on government support programs. Unfortunately, this suffering is getting passed on to generations as these kids are not getting the proper education (Loppie & Wien, 2021). Climate change also affects the food security of Indigenous population especially the ones that live in remote and isolated community areas. Transportation to these remote areas is costly and this affects the prices of food in these areas, on top of high prices some of these remote areas are up the north and it is extremely hard for things like fruits and vegetables to grow there, hence why the residents depend on other areas to get these fresh fruits and vegetables. Climate change has also led to hardships in transportation to the areas up the north as the lakes are not getting frozen during their regular times and these lakes are used as a mode of transportation during the winter, this has led to longer times for these communities to get the basic needs and spent time without food (Raphael, 2016). Furthermore, climate change has led to the increased amount of mercury in seafood. High consumption of methylmercury or organic mercury can lead to mercury poisoning. Mercury poisoning is the toxicity caused by the consumption of mercury-containing food. Fish and marine mammals have been the main meal for many Indigenous communities especially the ones living up the north for centuries and part of their culture, the threat of this disease is forcing them to find other sources of food that they are not customed to, this comes on top of the fact that the transportation of food is hard itself, this makes the coping strategies hard for these new ways of eating hard as they have to learn how to make a balanced meal out of this new food sources (Islam & Berkes, 2016).

FOOD INSECURITY IN INDIGENOUS POPULATION 6 The food insecurity rate is higher among females in Indigenous communities, this is mainly because most mothers are caretakers of the family, they are the ones in charge of doing groceries and in charge of meal preparation, due to gender roles and expectations, hence create a disparity between food insecurity between women and men. Most traditional Indigenous food is derived from hunting; this makes men more secure than women; they are the gendered roles means that men are the one that gets involved in hunting. Hence have more access to food than women who are left home to take care of the kids at home, often find themselves without food reserves, while waiting for the men to come. The few that they must prefer leaving them to their kids, leave them with an empty stomach (Ford & Berrang-Ford, 2009). In large families’ mothers mostly first wait for everyone to eat before they can take their own portion and often find themselves left with nothing to eat, as they are making sure that everyone else is fed before them. These impacts both their physical health and mental health, this lack of eating oftentimes leads to eating disorders as many of them instead of eating the healthy diet they prepared; they end up taking snacks to satisfy their hunger. These snack substitutes do not contain the adequate daily intake they are required to get from eating and this may result in food deficiency or chronic disease such as high blood pressure, studies do show that there is a correlation between eating snacks and these chronic illnesses (Tarasuk et al., 2013). The impact of food insecurity is seen in Indigenous families with low-income levels. Families with a high income come with high purchasing power hence can easily access western store-bought foods and do not have to depend solely on traditional foods but have a choice on what they are going to eat, these families also have easy access to healthy organic options in the store as they are oftentimes more expensive than the frozen option, hence lead healthier lives compared to low-income families. Indigenous communities are more at risk to earn less hence

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FOOD INSECURITY IN INDIGENOUS POPULATION 7 poorer compared to other Canadians (Task Force on Aboriginal Languages and Cultures Canada, 2005). Data from the 2006 APS and 2007 CCHS show that 42% of Métis adults and more than 50% of First Nation and Inuit adults report earning less than $20,000 a year, compared to approximately 29% of non-Indigenous Canadians with the same occupation. This has a greater effect on communities living on reserves, remote areas especially the ones up the north because jobs are harder to find in these areas compared to urban communities. Often find themselves depending on government social assistance programs due to lack of employment and traditional ways of getting food like hunting, especially the ones that identify more with their culture, because they often prefer traditional ways of getting food, compared to western store-bought food. It affects more the old generation as they are more attached to their culture and their land as well as oftentimes, they are not interested in learning the western eating habits. The effects are more pronounced on economically disadvantaged Indigenous communities because they must spend more to make western meals than traditional ones as they have limited funds to support their families and end up buying cheaper choices that are less healthy and may lead to some health implications (Tarasuk et al., 2013). Food insecurity among indigenous communities especially the ones living up the north and rural areas, in Northern Manitoba more than 60% of on-reserve Indigenous households are food insecure, while in Northern Ontario food insecurity rates are as high as 70%, according to Statistics Canada. This is a known health and well-being issue that has been ongoing for years because it is multi-faceted due to the different factors that play a role that leads to this health crisis, this means that different methods can be employed to resolve this issue and have a long- time impact, this means that the government, private sectors, and individual Canadians all needs to play a role to give a sustainable solution to this issue. Among the methods that are being used

FOOD INSECURITY IN INDIGENOUS POPULATION 8 and proving to help resolve the issue involves is a school nutrition program, as many indigenous students living on-reserve go to school hungry the government has initiated this program where students get meals at school and are given take-home meals and snacks, this is a long term solution as the better-nourished one is, the more chances they have to perform well in school and are able to secure good jobs in the future and will have purchasing power for health foods. Another government method that is being employed is nutrition education, where children get educated about healthy methods of eating and what makes a balanced diet. Thus, emphasized by practicing gardening as it is a hands-on skill` that helps to emphasize the connection to the land, this does help to heal Indigenous communities who have always had a special connection to the land, hence helps to reinforce their culture. This is not limited to schools only as it has also been introduced in local communities, like cooking classes, feasts, community-kitchen, this helps to bring the community together, by bringing children, youth, parents, adults, and elders together to celebrate the social and cultural connection between people, food and the land that provides it. This helps to build connections between Indigenous people as they also get a chance to learn more about their culture by practicing some of their cultural games, speaking their language, and learning from their elders. Also, it provides a good opportunity to sit down and talk about their mutual issues and discuss the solution to these issues (Fieldhouse & Thompson, 2012). In a conclusion, the research shows that Indigenous face food insecurity more than non- Indigenous population as some individuals cannot change their traditional food to Western food as well to prevent some diseases, but the government is doing its best to reduce the problem of food insecurity among the indigenous population which will help the country to develop more (Fieldhouse & Thompson, 2012).

FOOD INSECURITY IN INDIGENOUS POPULATION 9 References Bagelman, C. (2018). Unsettling Food Security: The Role of Young People in Indigenous Food System Revitalisation . Children & Society, 32(3), 219–232. https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12268 Fieldhouse, P., & Thompson, S. (2012). Tackling food security issues in indigenous communities in Canada: The Manitoba experience. Nutrition & Dietetics , 69(3), 217–221. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-0080.2012.01619.x

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FOOD INSECURITY IN INDIGENOUS POPULATION 10 Government of Canada, S. C. (2021, July 15). Data . Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/type/data . Heritage, C. (2005, July 13). Government of Canada . Canada.ca. https://www.canada.ca/en/news/archive/2005/07/task-force-report-aboriginal-languages- cultures-received-minister-frulla.html Islam, D., & Berkes, F. (2016). Indigenous peoples’ fisheries and food security: a case from northern Canada. Food Security , 8 (4), 815–826. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-016-0594- 6 Loppie, C., & Wien, F. (n.d.). Health Inequalities and Social Determinants of Aboriginal ... http://www.nccah-ccnsa.ca/docs/social%20determinates/NCCAH-loppie-Wien_report.pdf McKenzie, J. F., Pinger, R. R., & Seabert, D. (2018). An introduction to community & public health . Jones & Bartlett Learning. Nesbitt, H. K., Moore, J. W., & Manning, P. (2016). Species and population diversity in Pacific salmon fisheries underpin indigenous food security. The Journal of Applied Ecology , 53(5), 1489–1499. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12717 Raphael, D. (2016). Social determinants of health: Canadian perspectives . Canadian Scholars' Press Inc Tarasuk, V., Mitchell, A., McLaren, L., & McIntyre, L. (2013). Chronic Physical and Mental Health Conditions among Adults May Increase Vulnerability to Household Food Insecurity. The Journal of Nutrition , 143 (11), 1785–1793. https://doi.org/10.3945/jn.113.178483

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