Canadian Social Programs and Food Security

The state, at various levels, provides social programs to support the well-being of northern Aboriginal peoples. Income support programs are the primary vehicle by which the federal government delivers assistance to diminish some of the costs of living across Canada, including in the North. As an extension, these programs may have indirect impacts on individual and household-level food security by liberating financial resources. Examples include Employment Insurance, Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement, the Canada child tax benefit, northern tax benefits, the Income Support Program (for Aboriginal people living on-reserve), and money to support housing programs. Other social support programs, including those surrounding daycare and child care, can positively impact food security. Gagné et al. (2012) reported that children who attended child-care centres in Nunavik between 2006 and 2010 had significantly higher intakes of omega-3 fatty acids, calcium, total iron, bioavailable iron, phosphorus, beta-carotene, folate, pantothenic acid, riboflavin, and vitamin K on the day of the dietary recall. The proportion of children meeting the recommended servings for vegetables and fruit, grain products, and milk and alternatives was also significantly higher among participants who attended a child-care centre.

The economic costs associated with chronic diseases due in part to changing food consumption patterns must also be considered. The rise in such conditions, the associated health and wellness impacts on individuals, families, and communities, and the economic costs of health delivery to treat these conditions are important considerations. Programs such as the Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative (ADI) have been introduced to help reduce type 2 diabetes among Aboriginal people through support of health promotion and primary prevention activities and services delivered by trained community diabetes workers and health service providers (Health Canada, 2013). “Renewed funding has enabled more than 600 First Nations and Inuit communities throughout Canada to continue to build on past successes. Using local knowledge, First Nations and Inuit communities

39 Preferential rights allow Inuvialuit the first opportunity to harvest what they need for food, clothing, and other personal use. Others may also have the right to harvest after Inuvialuit personal and family needs are met.

are encouraged to develop innovative, culturally relevant approaches aimed at increasing community wellness and ultimately reducing the burden of type 2 diabetes. Community activities funded through the ADI vary from one community to another and may include walking clubs, weight-loss groups, diabetes workshops, fitness classes, community kitchens, community gardens, and healthy school food policies. The ADI also supports traditional activities such as traditional food harvesting and preparation, canoeing, drumming, dancing, and traditional games” (Health Canada, 2013).

As a response to the high costs of market food, food subsidy programs have fulfilled an important role in northern communities since the 1960s (SCAAND, 2011). These have come in the form of the federal government’s Northern Air Stage Program (delivered by the Canada Post Corporation), the Food Mail Program (FMP) (administered by AANDC, 1999–2011), and Nutrition North Canada (2011–present). The latter two programs will be described in the sections that follow.

The FMP was intended to promote healthy eating by making nutritious perishable food more affordable and accessible through subsidizing part of the transportation costs (AANDC, 2009). Amid increasing program costs, a major 2006–2009 federal evaluation of the FMP revealed that the program experienced some success in achieving an overall healthy diet for northern Aboriginal peoples. The availability and affordability of nutritious food in remote communities improved, and the FMP reduced prices for the most nutritious perishable food by about 15 to 20% of their non-subsidized costs (SCAAND, 2011). AANDC estimated that about 62% of the subsidy was passed on to consumers in isolated northern communities eligible for the program (SCAAND, 2011). The Panel recognized that food costs are not merely reflective of transportation costs, but also include the significant costs involved with warehousing and distribution in the communities.

Dietary studies, however, indicated that the proportion of mean daily calories from food of little nutritional value and convenience food had generally increased over time (AANDC, 2009; see also Lawn & Harvey, 2003, 2009), and the requirement of a credit card for direct-order purchases limited the accessibility of the program for many northern Aboriginal residents. Shortfalls in the FMP were largely attributed to limited program knowledge, limited program transparency, limited program reach and food eligibility, food quality issues, the claims process, logistics, the continuing high cost of food, the changing diets of northern Aboriginal peoples, and the level of cultural appropriateness (AANDC, 2009; SCAAND, 2011).As a result, recommendations for future programming have included the incorporation of traditional/country food, the

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provision of a replacement subsidy for traditional/country food production, the removal of constraints related to the mode of transportation for food under subsidy, the establishment of marine transport and warehousing subsidies, the lowering of the airfreight subsidy to provide greater flexibility and support for accessing cheaper modes of shipment, and community restocking. In addition, there is support for inter-settlement transport within the territory (BDS, 2011;

Ford & Beaumier, 2011), along with an acknowledgement that lack of credit opportunities for many First Nations, Métis, and Inuit may reduce the access to some cheaper food opportunities (e.g., being able to purchase a large quantity of food by sea lift in the Arctic coastal communities).

In response to the issues with the FMP and in recognition that the eligible food list had grown to include items with questionable nutritious value, Nutrition North Canada was introduced (see Figure 9.1). This program is based on a supplier-focused, market-driven model. It provides funding directly to retailers, suppliers, and country food processors who apply, meet program requirements, and sign funding agreements with AANDC (AANDC, 2012d). These parties are then responsible for passing along savings to consumers (AANDC, 2013d).

Nutrition North Canada identifies two levels of subsidies that apply to eligible food and non-food items when they are air-shipped to an eligible community.

With an annual budget capped at $60 million (SCAAND, 2011), subsidy rates are intended to reflect the perishability and nutritional value of the food product (AANDC, 2012e). Non-perishable food and non-food items are expected to be shipped via winter roads, sealift, or barge (AANDC, 2013c). For example, higher subsidy rates apply to perishable food that has been identified as most nutritious. Lower subsidy rates apply to other nutritious perishable food, non-perishable food, and non-food items. Subsidy rates differ among communities, with consideration for retailers’ shipping costs, the estimated amounts of eligible products that will be shipped by air to eligible communities, and the number of eligible communities (AANDC, 2013c). These estimated amounts are revised periodically by food retailers and suppliers because Northerners’

demand for eligible products changes over time. Subsidy rates may need to be adjusted when the estimated amounts are revised (SCAAND, 2011; AANDC, 2012d, 2013c).

Suggestions to integrate traditional/country food in a variety of ways into the new Nutrition North Canada regime (see Myers et al., 2004) have been adopted to some degree (AANDC, 2012e). The Panel reflected on the effectiveness of the changes and asked what potential they have to address the issues related to food access and consumption behaviour. Clearly, this remains to be seen, and the Panel suggested it would require ongoing monitoring and evaluation.

Nutrition North Canada has also attracted considerable controversy. Key concerns

Communities served by Nutrition North Canada (approximate as of 2011–2012)

Full Funding Partial Funding No Funding Southernmost limit of

discontinuous permafrost

■ Region served by Nutrition North Canada (approximate as of 2011–2012)

Created by: Glenda Smith, Oct 2013 Hydrology and Boundaries: GeoGratis (Atlas of Canada Vector Data) Southernmost limit of discontinuous permafrost boundary line: Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada – Northern Scientific Training Program (NSTP) Nutrition North Data: Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, News Releases, 2011.

Datum – D_North_American_1983; Projection – Canada_Albers_Equal_Area_Conic Figure 9.1

Map of Nutrition North-Funded Communities (2011–2012)

This figure depicts the diversity of remote northern communities, as listed in the Atlas of Canada database, that are located north of the southernmost limit of discontinuous permafrost (blue dotted line). Only some of these communities fall within the jurisdiction of Nutrition North Canada (those within the shaded area). Some communities receive a full subsidy, while others are eligible for a partial subsidy. Rates depicted are from 2011–2012, coinciding with the beginning of the assessment. The program may affect the extent to which food security may be achieved in each of these communities, but an external review of the program has yet to be completed.

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include the program’s list of criteria for communities and food items eligible for the subsidy, whether the subsidy is in fact being passed on to consumers, and the extent to which nutritious food has become accessible and available (De Schutter, 2012). These concerns are directly tied to and impact important issues for food security. A full performance audit of the program by Canada’s Auditor General is currently underway, and the full findings are expected to be released in 2014 (Weber, 2013). For now, however, the Panel acknowledges the gaps in the effects and efficacy of the current program and points to the important factors, including rights contained in land claims agreements (e.g., harvesting rights), as indicated in the conceptual framework (Figure 2.1), that ideally need to be considered in the development of any new food subsidy program. Further, as processes of devolution continue in the NWT and Nunavut, there is an increasing imperative for local capacity building to address food security and food sovereignty.

9.4 CONCLUSIONS

Traditional food security and food sovereignty depend on the protected right to access lands, the right to harvest, and holistic relationships between community, land, and harvest. These rights and relationships are shaped and constrained by past and present governance. At an institutional level, Aboriginal peoples can influence or control these matters through constitutionally protected harvesting rights, as well as through comprehensive claims, which may encompass harvesting quotas and wildlife co-management strategies. Food sovereignty helps to illustrate how rights and responsibilities have shifted over time in the North. Many types of rights and benefits that impact food security and food sovereignty are encompassed in land claims agreements, such as representation on organizations that supervise land, water, and wildlife management issues or evaluate the effects of development, to responsibilities related to public infrastructure asset management. Traditional knowledge and community-based monitoring of food, land, and wildlife are essential practices that provide up-to-date information about environmental health. Additionally, federal income support and food subsidy programs may have impacts on individual and household-level food security by liberating financial resources.

• Canadian Efforts

• International Approaches

• Conclusions

10

Programs and Practices Addressing Northern Food Security and Food Sovereignty: Canadian Efforts, International Approaches

161 Chapter 10 Programs and Practices Addressing Northern Food Security and Food Sovereignty:

Canadian Efforts, International Approaches

10 Programs and Practices Addressing Northern Food