First Nations, Métis and Inuit must be a part of shaping the new food policy

By Amanda Sheedy - Director of Development and Engagement at Food Secure Canada

Food Secure Canada and our members are pleased to see Minister MacAulay commit to including First Nations, Métis and Inuit (FNMI) peoples in the development of a national food policy. We have been advocating for this since the release of Resetting the Table: A People’s Food Policy for Canada in 2011!

"Our Minister's mandate letter includes many important commitments, including the development of a national food policy," Minister Lawrence MacAulay's office stated in an email. "Canada has a solid reputation for producing safe and healthy food, and the Minister intends to build on that reputation, and consider the perspectives of a wide range of stakeholders, including aboriginal groups, in determining the potential shape and direction of the food policy."

FNMI peoples are disproportionately affected by food insecurity (up to 70% of children in Nunavut experience hunger!) so they must be a part of shaping the solutions. We know that the problems are complex ( poverty, high cost of food, remoteness, climate change impacts on traditional foods) and so we need complex solutions that FNMI people are best placed to identify.

Nunavut created an anti-poverty strategy that includes food security and that reflects Inuit food systems and values and proposes a diversity of actions. Their process included an inspiring model where community members, government and academics are engaged in an ongoing conversation that is now being carried forward by the Nunavut Food Security Coalition.

Food Secure Canada and the Arctic Institute of Community Based Research (AICBR) are collaboratingwith different levels of community, government and FNMI governance to develop a Northern Food Strategy, a crucial component of a National Food Policy.

Check out some of FSC resources on Northern food issues.