Excerpt from Presentation on Food Security and Social Work

SOWK 673 International Social Development

There is an idea in Canada that issues of food insecurity are related to economic hardships of “some
families” in mostly urban areas. Why rural Indigenous communities are vulnerable is not clearly
understood by the Canadian public. Numbers are difficult to accurately come by - Stats Canada in
2012 showed 22.3% of off reserve Indigenous households are food insecure compared to 7.6% of
non-Indigenous households. Other numbers highlighted Inuit communities in particular noting that
as much as 80% of families experience food insecurity.

Environmental degradation, neoliberal approaches to trade, loss of access to traditional lands,

collapse of tribal political structures and socio-economic marginalization have greatly impacted
the ability of Indigenous communities to respond to their need for healthy and culturally relevant
Indigenous food and food systems.

As social workers we need to recognize that Indigenous communities have a significant role to
play in transforming food systems in Canada and the world - they have an extended history of
survival on the land, which included developed food systems and networks. They had diverse land
based practices that made use of local or regional ecosystems and were aware of fluctuating
climates and the resultant varying access to resources (including seasonal patterns of mammal and
fish migrations)

Approaches to these issues right now are community based (this book did focus on a Northern
Ontario context) - there are attempts at addressing food challenges through cultural land-based
programming, including programs that reconnect Youth with the land, developing their skills to
live of the land and also improving mental wellness.

To increase food security and improve health indicators for all Canadians, a re-evaluation of our
food systems, in ways that account for policy, trade, cultural and environmental factors is
necessary. The authors of the book noted that this is a potentially “daunting task” that requires
critical perspectives on governmental and industrial power relations at federal and international
levels. Public engagement, resistance to current options and generating alternatives are all factors
that support to change current food systems. Food sovereignty has often been a term employed
when understanding alternatives as it acknowledges and names the political and economic power
dimensions inherent in the food and agricultural debate.

In August of this year Canada released its first Poverty Reduction Strategy - the strategy included
the development of an online dashboard of indicators to track progress on selected measures of
poverty. Food security has been included as one of those indicators. The document itself notes in
relation to Canada’s Inuit that food security is a “major issue”

The Alex - community food centre has programming like healthy food access, healthy food skills
and education and engagement. These programs not only offer healthy food to those in need but
also work to develop healthy food behaviours and agency/voice to communities and individuals.