When you hear the words food insecurity, what comes to mind? Most would say growling stomachs, financial distress and third-world countries. But for decades, food insecurity has been a persistent issue for Indigenous communities right here in Canada, one that is rooted in overpriced food across Indigenous reserves.

From 2010 to 2018, nearly half of First Nations households on-reserve were food insecure (Batal et al., 2022). A more recent study from Nunavut presents similar findings: 50% of households there are food insecure, and almost half of them meet the criteria for being severely food insecure (Inuit Nunangat Food Security Strategy 13). Compare this to the rest of Canada, where 91.3% of households are food secure, and 3% are severely food insecure.

(Inuit Nunangat Food Security Strategy 13). These rates of food insecurity within Canada’s Indigenous population are simply devastating - and to think that we are still considered a  “developed” nation - that boggles my mind.

When we look at everyday items in Inuit communities, prices are staggering. A hamburger patty - one hamburger patty - costs 20 dollars! Three bananas costs seven (Flanagan)! One potato is sold for one dollar and water bottles are sold at $15! This is outrageous, especially considering the fact that many Inuit rely on water bottles since their communities are often under water boil advisories (Zoledziowski).

Down south, just a week’s worth of healthy food supply costs $112-140 more in remote First Nations communities with no road access compared to at urban centers in non-remote communities (Batal et al., 2022). This is simply unacceptable. Overall, Indigenous people living on-reserve have lower incomes compared to the rest of Canada due to racial discrimination in the workforce, job shortage, lack of available job training and barriers to education. With all of this stacked against them, on top of extreme food costs, countless Indigenous families struggle to put food on the table - let alone nutritious food.

Oftentimes, they are forced to rely heavily on processed foods, because these are priced affordably (Batal et al., 2022). But this is a problem. The regular consumption of processed food results in malnutrition, excess weight gain and obesity, due to minimal nutritional value and high fat and sugar content (Inuit Nunangat Food Security Strategy 14). In the long-term, dependence on processed foods enhances the risk of developing chronic disease (Inuit Nunangat Food Security Strategy 14). These include, but are not limited to diabetes, hypertension and heart disease  (Inuit Nunangat Food Security Strategy 14). Like any disease, these health issues can significantly reduce quality of life and lifespan, especially without early diagnosis, and proper treatment, and since Indigenous people often suffer from inequities in Canada’s healthcare system brought on from racial discrimation, they are likely to suffer more from their disease.

But the impacts of food insecurity span far beyond physical health. Food security is crucial to an individual’s well being on an emotional, mental and physical scale, and all of these areas are intertwined. Physical disease can degrade a person’s emotional and mental health and mental and emotional health issues can degrade a person’s physical health. Particularly with children and adolescents, food insecurity it is a significant risk factor for psychological distress, developmental delays, behavioral issues, depression, and even suicidal thoughts  (Inuit Nunangat Food Security Strategy 14).

When nutritious food is out of reach and unaffordable, children and adults alike become overwhelmed by stress and anxiety. Having to decide between breakfast, lunch or dinner for yet another month, or knowing and dreading that you will be hungry for yet another day, another week - maybe even another year - is bound to cause feelings of hopelessness and despair.

As you can see, food insecurity is not one, but many issues. On the flip side, engaging in a course of action to bring about a solution would reap so many benefits for Indigenous communities.

 

By signing the petition, you are urging Justin Trudeau and the federal government to:

1. Implement a national school food program in Canada - Canada is one of the few developed nations that lacks one.

• Time and time again, data has confirmed that national school food programs around the world are tremendously effective in combating food insecurity within the school-age population  (Inuit Nunangat Food Security Strategy 14).
• A national school food program in Canada would ensure that students across the nation can receive one or more full and nutritious meals at school every school day. This would contribute to their daily calorie and nutritional intake (Inuit Nunangat Food Security Strategy 14).
• Since this type of program does not charge students or their families for the provided meals, it would increase food affordability.
• On a global scale, the implementation of these programs have brought with it increased nutritional literacy, increased overall health, increased academic success and increased future opportunities for students (Inuit Nunangat Food Security Strategy 14). 

2. Provide adequate funding for these school food programs that do exist in schools across Indigenous communities.

• Many school food programs already exist in schools in Inuit Nunangat and across Canada, but most of them do not receive the adequate funding to meet their full potential (Inuit Nunangat Food Security Strategy 14).

3. Make traditional foods more safe, accessible and affordable to reduce reliance on stores with inflated food prices and to promote Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination.

• For centuries, Indigenous people have been hunting, fishing, gathering and cultivating their cultural foods, or traditional foods. From 2008 to 2018, about two thirds of Indigenous people reported regularly harvesting their traditional foods (Batal et al., 2022).
• Unfortunately, climate change, mining, deforestation, restrictive fishing and hunting laws, and financial factors, such as lack of money to afford equipment, have acted as barriers between Indigenous people and their traditional foods, causing some form disruption in the harvesting process for 50% of Indigenous adults surveyed, including reduced crop yield (Batal et al., 2022).
• Harvesting traditional foods is fundamental for Indigenous communities because it allows them to forge a deeper connection with their culture (Batal et al., 2022). Furthermore, this practice empowers them towards sovereignty and self-determination as it enables them to make dietary choices that will support their health and well-being (Batal et al., 2022).
• When Indigenous people harvest their own traditional foods, they break their dependence on stores with inflated food prices, and nutritious foods are far more attainable. Furthermore, it negates the issue of low food affordability, because Indigneous people are obtaining food from their natural surroundings, meaning that they have little to no reliability on stores with inflated food prices. This results in brighter financial circumstances and enhanced well-being. 
• After all the separation that Indigenous people have endured from their culture, the government must make it a priority to improve access to traditional foods.
• By signing the petition, you are agreeing that you would like to see the government help Indigenous people gain thorough access to their traditional foods by removing restrictive hunting and fishing laws on reserves, providing funding for any necessary equipment, providing funding to determine whether a region such as a lake is safe for harvesting traditional foods and providing funding for the rehabilitation of damaged ecosystems to ensure the safety of traditional foods (Batal et al., 2022).

 

On a closing note, I would like to thank you for taking the time to read this petition. If you would like to help remove the barriers that stand between Indigenous people and affordable and nutritious foods, please sign now, and please share the petition with your friends and family. 

I encourage you to embark on your own journey to make food more affordable in Indigenous communities. Educate yourself on the complexity of the issue - the root causes, the impacts, what is currently being done to help. Share your knowledge with others through social media and conversation. Conduct research and write letters to your MP’s outlining the steps that the government must take to tackle this food insecurity in our country, and support charities such as True North Aid that are working to make affordable food a reality across Indigenous reserves.

Positive social change is often slow - but it’s faster when more are willing to join the fight. As citizens of Turtle Island, we owe that to Indigenous people.

 

Works Cited

Batal, M., Chan, H.M., Fediuk, K. et al. “First Nations households living on-reserve experience food insecurity: prevalence and predictors among ninety-two First Nations communities across Canada,” 2021, pp. 52–63, https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-021-00491-x Accessed 13 Jan. 2022.

“Inuit Nunangat Food Security Strategy.” Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Jul. 2021, https://www.itk.ca/wp-conent/uploads/2021/07/ITK_Food-Security-Strategy-Report_English_PDF-Version.pdf

Flanagan, Ryan. “$20 hamburgers and $2 bananas: The cost of food insecurity in Canada's North.” CTV News, https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/20-hamburgers-and-2-bananas-the-cost-of-food-insecurity-in-canada-s-north-1.5154743 Accessed 19 February 2022.

Zoledziowski, Anya. “Cost of Getting Food to Remote Indigenous Communities Rose 400% During COVID.” Vice World News, https://www.vice.com/en/article/k78nvy/cost-of-getting-food-to-remote-indigenous-communities-rose-400-during-covid Accessed 19 February 2022.