Of Kale and Caribou

Abstract

Rates of food insecurity in Nunavut are the highest in Canada. This paper will focus on the federal government’s role in solving this problem, arguing that a thorough examination of the coherence of existing arrangements, institutions, programs, and regulations that impact food insecurity in Nunavut is needed. As an example, this paper will focus on three factors that contribute to food insecurity among the Inuit of Nunavut and policies that seek to address them or that exacerbate them: 1) high prices of food sourced from southern Canada, and the efficacy of the Government of Canada’s program, Nutrition North Canada, in decreasing those prices; 2) decreased rates of country food consumption and possible programming to increase that consumption; and 3) the role of large-scale infrastructure projects in damaging the Inuit traditional food system, followed by recommendations for the types of infrastructure projects that would strengthen food security, rather than harm it.