Climate change, community capitals, and food security: Building a more sustainable food system in a northern Canadian boreal community

Abstract

Canada’s North offers unique food systems perspectives. Built on close cultural and spiritual ties to the land, the food systems within many northern communities still rely on the harvesting and gathering of traditional food and function through the sharing of food throughout the community. However, social, economic and environmental pressures have meant that some communities rely more on food purchased from the stores, which can be unhealthy and expensive, leading to high rates of food insecurity and chronic health problems in many communities in the North. Northern communities are now dealing with the impacts of climate change that are increasing pressure on the food system by limiting both access to the land and the availability of traditional food sources. This research presents a case study from the Northern Canadian boreal community of Kakisa, Northwest Territories. Using a Participatory Action Research (PAR) methodology, community members play an active role in identifying threats to the community food system, as well as developing community-based solutions to foster adaptation and transformation of their food systems to become more resilient to the impacts of climate change. By using the Community Capitals Framework to identify multiple stressors on the food system this research illustrates how a community can allocate available capitals to adapt to the impacts of climate change as well as identify which capitals are required to build a more sustainable food system.

Virtual Barriers: Unpacking the Sustainability Implications of Online Food Spaces and the Yellowknife Farmers Market’s Response to COVID-19

“…A sustainable food system in the North serves 'people, the planet, and pro t,' and producing local food is integral to this goal (6,(36)(37)(38)(39). As future shocks are expected due to climate stressors, this discussion considers the research on online food spaces within the context of building a resilient, sustainable food system while considering the current place-based barriers for the YKFM.…”

“…Food sovereignty and local resilience depend on local food harvests and production, and environmental sustainability will depend on knowledge-sharing of growing methods that reduce land-clearing and environmental impacts (2,4,37,38,43). The YKFM has worked to promote ecologically sustainable practices directly through the Yellowknife Food Charter, urban growing initiatives, as well as through the composting program at their events, which also produces soil needed to support local food growing (1,(38)(39)(40). Online communities can also be considered alongside the physically-distanced marketplace of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic to build a community around shared ethics and beliefs that can support increasing use of sustainable growing practices (11,24,25).…”

“…Online communities can also be considered alongside the physically-distanced marketplace of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic to build a community around shared ethics and beliefs that can support increasing use of sustainable growing practices (11,24,25). Although discussed last here, building a community and momentum towards ecologically-supportive agriculture cannot be an afterthought; it is key to achieving the dual goals of a new local food industry and sustainable development to mitigate and adapt to climate change and nurture human and animal life for generations to come (1,2,4,39). Thus, while the YKFM proposes to shift to a physically-distanced market to connect farmers and consumers, the need for community building online or o ine must remain a priority.…”

Examining Local Food Procurement, Adaptive Capacities and Resilience to Environmental Change in Fort Providence, Northwest Territories

“…Literature on food security in the NT is typically framed around the context of remote fly-in communities, and most research is conducted at higher latitudes where remoteness, access limitations, and costs are much higher (Rosol, et al, 2016). Less literature concerns Subarctic food security (Spring, et al, 2018). The importance of wild foods to the overall health and cultural well-being of northern Indigenous people is widely recognized, as procuring, harvesting, sharing, and consuming them play an integral part in northern cultures (Gerlach & Loring, 2013;Rosol et al, 2016;Spring et al, 2018).…”

“…Food security 1 challenges among Indigenous communities in northern Canada are a significant concern that is exacerbated by changing socio-cultural, economic, and environmental conditions (Council of Canadian Academies, 2014; Kenny et al, 2018;Rosol et al, 2016;Skinner et al, 2013;Spring et al, 2018). The Northwest Territories (NT) report that 19.3% of adults over the age of 12 are food insecure, while the national average is 7.3% (Northwest Territories [NT] Bureau of Statistics, 2014).…”