food insecurity in bc - university of british columbia · defining food security has evolved but...
TRANSCRIPT
Food insecurity in BC: opportunities and challenges with how it is defined
Melanie Kurrein, MA, RDProvincial Manager Food SecurityPopulation & Public Health
UBC learning circleNovember 20, 2018
Meaning of Food
2
A story
3
Definitions
• Physical, social and economic access to food that is safe and meets preferences and dietary needs (adapted from FAO)
Food Security
• Inadequate or insecure access to food due to financial constraints (PROOF)
Household food insecurity
• Four principles: food is sacred, participation in cultural harvesting, self-determination of food systems, policy reform (WGIFS)
Indigenous food
sovereignty
4
Measuring food insecurity
5
PHSA (2016) Priority health equity indicators for BC: household food insecurity report
Half a million people in BC are food insecure
6
PHSA (2016) Priority health equity indicators for BC: household food insecurity report
Households with children have higher rates than those without
7
PHSA (2016) Priority health equity indicators for BC: household food insecurity report
Of all food insecure households:
8
PHSA (2016) Priority health equity indicators for BC: household food insecurity report
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
White Asian Aboriginal Other
Prevalence by self-identified race
Prevalence of HFI by race
9
PHSA (2016) Priority health equity indicators for BC: household food insecurity report
Health implications
10
Missing pieces
11
Web of Being
12
Social determinants and Aboriginal Peoples’ health
Greenwood & de Leeuw, 2012
Solutions and questions
13
• PHSA & PROOF (2016). Priority health equity indicators for BC: Household food insecurity.
• Dietitians of Canada (2016). Prevalence, severity and impact of household food insecurity: A serious public health issue. Background paper.
• Greenwood, M.L. & de Leeuw, S.M. Social determinants of health and the future well-being of Aboriginal children in Canada. Paedtrics & Child Health. 2012;17(7). Available on the NCCAH website
• PROOF – Research to identify policy options to reduce food insecurity. https://Proof.utoronto.ca
• Council of Canadian Academies, 2014. Aboriginal Food Security in Northern Canada: An Assessment of the State of Knowledge, Ottawa, ON. The Expert Panel on the State of Knowledge of Food Security in Northern Canada, Council of Canadian Academies.
References/resources
15
Food security and Indigenous communities
Food security definitions
Food security in an industrialized system and from a western perspective?
1996 definition from Food and Agriculture Organization and adopted by Canada.
“Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.”
How is it measured in Canada?
• Household Food security module within Canadian Community Health Survey that measures a household’s ability to afford food
(First Nations living on reserve are not included in this survey)
• National Nutritious Food Basket (NNFB) - has ~60 foods that represent a nutritious diet for individuals in various age and gender groups. Prices are collected in different locations in Canada to determine the cost of the basket.
Defining Food Security has Evolved but still does not fit
- Health promoting factors remained tied to physical aspects of health. eg. nutrition.
As proposed by the FAO Committee on World Food Security in 2013, Food and nutrition security exist “when all people at all times have physical, social and economic access to food, which is safe and consumed in sufficient quantity and quality to meet their dietary needs and food preferences, and is supported by an environment of adequate sanitation, health services and care, allowing for a healthy and active life.”
First Nations Food, Nutrition and Environment Study
Funding for this study has been provided by Health Canada. The information and opinions expressed in this presentation are those of the authors/researchers and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Department of Indigenous Services Canada.
Vary by areaAre under threat from human activities● Industrial development● Contaminants● Climate change● Habitat loss
Traditional Food Systems of Indigenous Peoples in Canada
GoalsTo find out:
❑What kind of traditional and market foods are people eating?
❑What is the diet like?
❑What contaminants, if any, are in the community’s traditional foods and water?
❑Is traditional food safe to eat?
❑Is the water safe?
First Nations Food,Nutrition and Environment Study
• 93 communities from 2008-2017
• ~8 - 12 communities per year
• Systematic random sampling by region and ecozone
Study Collaborators
University of Ottawa
(Dr. Laurie Chan)
Université de Montréal
(Dr. Malek Batal)
Assembly of First Nations
(Dr. Tonio Sadik)
Indigenous Services Canada
(Dr. Constantine Tikhonov, Dr.
Harold Schwartz)
Participating First Nations communities
21 First Nations in 5 Ecozones in BCparticipated in the
study in 2008-2009
Study Components
AFNRegions
Years Communities Households
BC 2008-09 21 1103
Manitoba 2011-12 9 706
Ontario 2012 18 1429
Atlantic (New Brunswick/Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia/Newfoundland combined)
2013 11 1025
Alberta 2014 10 609
Saskatchewan 2015 14 1042
Quebec & Labrador 2016 10 573
6487
Household food harvesting practices
BC Manitoba Ontario
Moose (2/month) Moose (1/month) Walleye/pickerel (1/month)
Salmon (weekly) Walleye (1/month) Moose (1/month)
Deer (2/month) Deer (<1/month) Blueberries (6x/year)
• Most households would like more traditional food in their diet. • Barriers to use include:
Household barriers:
• Income which impacts equipment, transportation
• Lack of a harvester
• Limited knowledgeExternal barriers• Government restrictions/regulations which impact harvesting• Limited accessible high quality areas for harvesting as a result of
development (industry, residential, roadways)• Climate change
Traditional food security
Food insecurity rates are 3-5 times higher than among the general population (~8-10%), reflecting income differences
Market food security
First Nations adults do not meet the recommended daily servings of :● Vegetables and Fruit ● Grain Products● Milk and Alternatives
Generally fewer servings than suggested
What is diet quality like?
On days when Traditional Food is eaten
On days when only market food is eaten
•The intake of many nutrients is higher including:
ProteinZincIronVitamin DVitamin B12Vitamin B6
•Intake of saturated fat is higher•Intake of sodium is higher
What is the diet quality like?
Example of sources of Vitamin A – Eyes and prevent infection RDA=900 ug for males and 700 for females
Salmon - overall decline
1840 Kuhnlein (1981) -1 coastal community
FNFNES (2009) –across BC
~.7-.9 kg/day .1 kg/day .02-.07 kg/day
Socio-economic measures from Census data for BC2011 2016
Total population
First Nations
First Nations off reserve
First Nations on reserve
Total population
First Nations
First Nations off reserve
First Nations on reserve
Median size of HH 2.2 2.2 2.2 3.1 2.2 2.2 2.2 3.0
Housing major repairs needed
7.2% 18% 12.6% 34% 6.3% 17.1% 12.4% 32.9%
Participation in labour force
64.6% 59.3% 63.1% 51.8% 63.9% 61.2% 64% 54.8%
Median individual income
28,765 17,150 19,470 14,230 32,983 21,388 23,764 17,237
Median household income after tax
54,379 37,027 45,456 33,085 61,272 50,748 53,817 40,465
User defined LOW income after tax*
19.8% 35.9% 31.4% 49.4% 19.3% 32.7% 29.1% 44.7%
Income solution and limits
Income can help
• if there is a set minimum income threshold (whether it be living wage, living disability income, living social assistance, living student income) that varies across province (rural/semi-urban/urban) and ensures people are able to get food in a dignified manner whether they live on or off reserve (historically a gap in wages and other forms of income if living on reserve lands)
Income may be able to help
• people engage in harvesting as it allows purchase of transportation and supplies but it does not guarantee a reasonable opportunity if the ecosystem is fractured and does not contain safe or abundant amounts of a diversity of fish, wildlife, plants that are cornerstones in the traditional food systems.
Income does not help address fundamental core problem
• jurisdiction differences where Crown sees Indigenous peoples as users, not title and rights holders who should be co-determining how decisions are made about ecosystems
Indigenous Perspectives of FoodFor Native Americans’ food consumption is tied to land, place, relationships, community and health… Food means more than simply personal responsibilities about food choices and includes a more complex understanding of how food invokes community, well-being, and connectedness. (Vernon, 2015)
“The salmon or the deer or the berry or the root was not merely a fish or an animal or fruit, in our sense of these things but something more” (Charles Hill-Tout, in Turner, 2005, Earths Blanket)
Without land First Nations lose their means of production, their work, their social systems, their place of worship. They lose their community (Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples 1996)
Indigenous Food Justice LensFood is …. (Vernon 2015)
Definition of food and nutrition security by FAO Committee on World Food Security 2013
Land EconomicAccessAdequate sanitation (WEAK)
Place
Relationships
Community Social (WEAK)
Health PhysicalSafeSufficient quantitySufficient qualityHealth servicesHealthyActive Lifestyles(WEAK)
Vernon, R. V. (2015). A Native perspective: Food is more than consumption. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 5(4), 137–142.http://dx.doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2015.054.024
Council of Canadian Academies, 2014. Aboriginal Food Security in Northern Canada: An Assessment of the State of Knowledge, Ottawa, ON. The Expert Panel on the State of Knowledge of Food Security in Northern Canada, Council of Canadian Academies.Disclaimer:
Indigenous Food Justice LensFood is ….
Conceptual Framework
Land Rights- Human Rights, GovernanceResources - Availability; Access; Use; Logistics
Place Culture - Knowledge; Preferences
Relationships Culture - Knowledge; Preferences
Community (Northern Aboriginal) Peoples; Culture
Health Health - Nutrition; Safety
Fundamental differences in approaches to food in-security
Western:
Largely economics and limited to providing physical access.
Indigenous:
Is more robust and also considers what is needed for all living things to survive in the future.
At the level of the household, income is a definite driver of food insecurity as it affects ability to transport oneself and purchase food.
Food security from an Indigenous lens requires the ability to being able to meaningfully engage in multiple roles (land & water steward, provider/sharer, cook of traditional food as well) which are a more adequate achieved through food sovereignty actions.
For the general population
“whose notions of food are shaped by what is available in grocery stores, there is little acceptance of Indigenous hunting as a contemporary cultural practice that puts food on the table. “
Brenda Parlee et al. Science Advances 2018
Indigenous Food Sovereignty
The interconnections among culture, heritage, spirituality, and politics, can make Indigenous food sovereignty difficult to define. Emphasis on the people and the place(or territory) of a people means that Indigenous people have a responsibility to their land systems, one that is “achieved by upholding our long-standing sacred responsibilities to nurture healthy, interdependent relationships with the land, plants, and animals that provide us with our food” (Morrison, 2011, p. 100).
Food sovereignty is very much situated to place. (Desmarais & Wittman, 2014)
Approaches and understandings will be diverse as a result of the diversity amongst Indigenous peoples.
Indigenous Food Sovereignty Stands the Table Up
Food Security Indigenous Food Sovereignty
R i g h t s
H e a l t h
Rights
Culture
Resources
R e s o u r c e s
Health
Food Sovereignty
Food Sovereignty- Rights and Jurisdictional concerns
Key Issue: Whose decision-making authority/jurisdiction is being recognized?
Land Use Planning and Management
Wildlife
Fisheries Forest
Water
The issue of food sovereignty really comes into relation with the context of regulation and policies of created and enforced by the provincial and/or federal government which impact Indigenous peoples ability to apply traditional knowledge and make decisions around ecological systems including
● preservation, restoration, protection and management of plant and animal populations in the territory,
● territorial land use planning, land management, protection and wealth generation
● protocols related to various users on the land
● ensuring that ability to harvest what is needed is not an empty right
What are the tools?
• Constitutional• Section 35 of the Constitution protects Aboriginal rights
• Limited protection: Although there is a duty to consult, Crown has the right to infringe for the ‘public good’ which can impact well-being and food security/sovereignty.
• Recent Legal Decisions: have increased the requirement
• Legal: after years in courts legal decision are made to restore limited rights eg. rights to fish salmon and for what purpose
• Legislative Changes
• eg. Indian Act: Various amendments to remove some controls of the Federal Government placing more control in the hands of First Nations eg. Land Management, Fiscal Management
• Nation to Nation approaches
Opportunities?Increased number of Indigenous Nations who are participating in coordinated food harvesting, care and management activities involving youth and elders.
Incorporating Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge(ATK) in assessment of species at risk:
Incorporating ATK into COSEWIC’s (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada) assessment of species at risk improves the process, and therefore the quality of designations made by COSEWIC, by bringing information and perspectives on wildlife species that are not available in published scientific literature.
Provincial Land Use Planning and Environmental Assessment Processes Are being updated, show an increased consideration of the views of Indigenous Nations and an apparent value of “the values, traditions and cultural practices of Indigenous peoples will be a part of all land use planning decisions and will continue to be an integral component as new modernized land use practices evolve.
MEGAN DARK, RDINDIGENOUS HEALTH DIETITIANTŜILHQOT’IN NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
DARYL JOHNNYʔESDILAGH FIRST NATION
November 2018—Benen Lhiz-Qwen-Yex Ts’enish
A COMMUNITY EYE-VIEW OF FOOD INSECURITY
Photo credit: Angela Hartwick
WHO ARE WE?MEGAN DARYL
WHERE ARE WE?
Tŝilhqot’in Nation• Xeni• Tŝideldel• Yuneŝit’in• Tl’etinqox• Tl’esqox• ʔEsdilagh
Rural and remote—1/2 hour to 3 hours to nearest service centre
Landmark Tsilhqot’in Nation vs British Columbia court case awarding Aboriginal Title—1st in Canada’s history
Photo credit: Birthe Piontek
Tŝilhqot’inCommunities
• Provide “zoomed-in” view of food insecurity on-reserve
• Review historical context
• Highlight lived experiences
• Offer decolonizing approaches to food insecurity
OUTLINE
BEYOND INCOME—UNIQUE FOOD INSECURITY CONSIDERATIONS FOR FIRST NATION COMMUNITIES
Food insecurity predicted by many of the same factors as non-indigenous people or off-reserve First Nations
• poverty• rental housing• single parents• recipients of social assistance • addiction & mental health…
Lived experience of food insecurity similar
• High proportion of income spent on basic needs• Health inequities
Income measures helpful, but….
…root cause of food insecurity on-reserve is not low incomes
See: Prevalence and sociodemographic risk factors related to household food security in Aboriginal peoples in Canada.Willows ND, Veugelers P, Raine K, Kuhle S. 2008
• Subsistence living
• Extensive use and stewardship of natural resources
• Wide-ranging territory
• Dynamic with seasons• Summer and winter homes
• Shared-use lands with neighbouring nations
• Food at centre of culture
• Every person—food procurement, preparation and preserving skills
• Clean air, water, and land
• Abundant wildlife
• Robust, healthy people
PRE-CONTACT INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES
Photo credit: Royal BC Museum
• Communities dispossessed from traditional territories to “reserves”• Often marginal or less commercially
valuable land• Fragmented & partitioned • Far less land than traditional territories
• Natural resource industrial activity on neighbouring lands—logging, mining, nuclear waste disposal• Change wildlife migration patterns• Loss of wildlife habitat• Destruction of food and medicine
gathering areas• Pollution of air, land, and water
POST-CONTACT INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES
• Climate change impacts to the land—overall reduction in diversity and number of wild plants and animals• Drought• Wildfire• Pests• Wildlife migration changing—have to travel
further to hunt/pick• Decline of salmon
• Subsistence livingà wage labour• Inadequate time to procure and preserve
traditional foods• Western values predominate—”9-5”, follow the
calendar, not the land• “Double-edged sword” of employment
• Decline in knowledge transfer• Forced assimilation at Residential schools• Removal of children from communities• Adoption of western values over time
POST-CONTACT INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES
“I can’t get time off to go picking.”
Photo credit: James Smith
• Road closures
• Power outages
• Cattle lost
• Hay fields destroyed
WILDFIRES HIGHLIGHT VULNERABILITY
• Wildlife habitat loss
• Berry picking sites lost
• Store burned
• Also: community cohesion
Access to buy market foods
• In the Chilcotin—up to 6 hours to grocery store• Contribute gas money to buy groceries
Nutrition transition• Traditional foods—high quality diet
• Today—associated with higher protein, vitamin D, omega-3 fat, iron and magnesium intake
• Rapid transition to western diet• Flour & sugar rations from Canadian
government• Declining nutrient density of diets• Rise of chronic diseases
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
See: The nutritional health of First Nations and Métis of the Northwest Territories: A review of current knowledge and gaps. April 2015. National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health
DECOLONIZING APPROACHES TO INDIGENOUS FOOD INSECURITY• Where to start? With the land
• Resolution of land claims• Aboriginal Title
“Give us back our land. We’ll look after the rest.”
Drawings by: Tiaré Jung of Drawing Change
DECOLONIZING APPROACHES TO INDIGENOUS FOOD INSECURITY• Meaningful consultation for wildlife management and fisheries
decisions
Source: Williams Lake Tribune
DECOLONIZING APPROACHES TO
INDIGENOUS FOOD INSECURITY
• Eliminate barriers to traditional food access in schools, hospitals, long-term care facilities
• Colonial laws & regulations make it hard for indigenous people to
access traditional foods
• Truth & Reconciliation Commission—“to deny one’s food is to deny
them their culture”
• Nourish Healthcare
• Forest to Fork (Interior Health and Tŝilhqot’in Nation)
See: Nourish Healthcare
www.nourishhealthcare.ca
DECOLONIZING APPROACHES TO INDIGENOUS FOOD INSECURITY
• Youth on-the-land programming• Eg. Embed cultural activities into school
curricula
• Knowledge transfer projects• Critical need to capture Elders’ knowledge• Colonial legacy has bred distrust around
documentation
• Indigenous agriculture projects• Food production & economic development• Build community capacity for agricultural
decision-making and business development
Wild potato picking in Xeni Gwet’in
Megan Dark, RD, CDEIndigenous Health DietitianTŝilhqot’in National GovernmentEmail: [email protected]
SECHANALHYAGHDaryl JohnnyAgriculture CoordinatorʔEsdilagh First NationEmail: [email protected]