Learning circles: an adaptive strategy to support food sovereignty among First Nations communities in Canada

Abstract

Indigenous communities in Canada are concerned about the health of their youth and the reclamation of traditional food-related skills among their people. Food sovereignty has an integral role in food and nutrition security, and the path to Indigenous self-determination. Learning Circles: Local Healthy Food to School was a community engagement model that aimed to enhance access to local, healthy and traditional foods for youth. In each of four First Nations communities, a Learning Circle Evaluation Facilitator worked to plan and implement activities, build on community strengths and promote partnerships. This paper describes how the model was perceived to support food sovereignty. Data included interviews, process reporting and school surveys, and was analysed according to pillars effective for the development of food sovereignty in Indigenous communities. Goals set by two communities incorporated food sovereignty principles, and in each community capacity-building work furthered the development of a more autonomous food system. There were many examples of a transition to greater food sovereignty, local food production and consumption. Indigenous governance was an important theme and was influential in a community’s success. The model appears to be an adaptable strategy to support the development of food sovereignty in First Nations communities.
 Novelty:
 LC:LHF2S was a community engagement model that aimed to enhance access to local, healthy and traditional foods for youth.
 The model is an adaptable strategy to support the development of food sovereignty in First Nations communities.
 There were many examples of a transition to greater food sovereignty, local food production and consumption.

Learning Circles: A Collaborative Approach to Enhance Local, Healthy and Traditional Foods for Youth in the Northerly Community of Hazelton/Upper Skeena, British Columbia, Canada

“…The LC:LHF2S initiative is adaptable, and incorporates some of the best practice recommendations for community-based initiatives in Indigenous communities [ 34 , 35 , 36 ] engaging the entire community in planning and implementation of local and traditional food activities. An LC uses an engaged scholarship or action research approach to engaging community in activity while collecting evidence, and the results of this study, and others [ 17 , 37 ], indicate that LCs are practicable in Indigenous communities, can facilitate building of partnerships and contribute to increased access to local and traditional food among school-aged youth.…”

Annual gatherings as an integrated knowledge translation strategy to support local and traditional food systems within and across Indigenous community contexts: a qualitative study

“…The AG were also an important IKT strategy for communities to understand the essence and purpose of the project and to learn from the experiences of other LC facilitators about how to implement LCs in their own communities that support the promotion of traditional and healthy food systems (as described in McEachern et al 2022). Experienced LC facilitators were able to share their LC models, successes and challenges with food-related activities, as well as provide guidance for those who were new to the LC model.…”

“…The main purpose of the AG was to support the implementation and evaluation of community-based LCs with the goal of promoting and improving food sovereignty in four unique Indigenous communities. Another publication from this study describes the specific food-related actions in each community supported by the LC processes (McEachern et al, 2022). This section focuses on how the AG helped to support the development and implementation of the LC:LHF2S sparking actions to improve food systems locally.…”

“…Cocreation of research designs is important for participatory research because it acknowledges power imbalances that may be present and uses strength-based and empowerment approaches to meet needs of all participants (Sherriff et al 2019). Participatory approaches aim to establish equal relationships where diverse types of knowledge and experience are valued and used towards a common goal, such as improving the healthfulness of local food systems (Sherriff et al 2019;McEachern et al 2022;Chan et al 2021;Domingo et al 2021;Miltenburg et al 2022;Genuis et al 2015).…”

Decolonizing research in high-income countries improves Indigenous peoples’ health and wellbeing

“…Ten research articles are included in the collection, all which have free access (Blanchet et al 2022;Blekkenhorst et al 2022;Cooper 2022;Ferreira et al 2022;Ironside et al 2021;McKay and Godrich 2021;McEachern et al 2022;Robidoux et al 2021;Senftleber et al 2021;Valaitis et al 2022; the main collection page can be accessed here: https://cdnscience pub.com/topic/apnm-strength-based). These articles discuss health research with Indigenous populations in Australia, Canada, and Greenland, high-income countries where Indigenous peoples have experienced European colonialism.…”