Country Foods focuses on food sovereignty in northern Manitoba

Country Foods is a place that always runs out of pickerel cheeks.

The shop hums with five large deep-freezes that line the walls in a section of the wooden building in Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation.

The freezers are typically full of pickerel, whitefish, bison, moose, elk and geese harvested locally, then redistributed to elders and families in need for no cost.

"To feed the people we serve, like elders, single parents and the disabled people that can't go out in the land to enjoy moose meat, fresh fish, berries, medicine — it's vital for the community to have," Country Foods manager Malcolm Hunter told CBC.

The Country Foods program was launched in the early 1990s, after discussions in the northern Manitoba First Nation highlighted the need for food sovereignty. The program's mandate is to gather and distribute traditional foods for people in Nisichawayasihk.

Elder Johnnie Hunter, who is among the locals who help supply the traditional food, has been harvesting from the land since he was a youth.

"It's very helpful. The way I look at it, a lot of people don't have the means to go out and hunt and fish. Back in the day it was easy, you know — before the flood. But now it's next to impossible to go out," he said.

The flood is the aftermath of the Churchill River Diversion, which diverts water from the Churchill River to the Nelson River basin, in order to increase the water flow to larger generating stations on the lower Nelson River, according to Manitoba Hydro.

The diversion system, which has been in operation since 1976, is among the Hydro projects that have been criticized by northern Manitoba First Nation communities for their environmental and social impacts.

A report released in 2018 by the Clean Environment Commission, an arm's-length provincial agency, detailed environmental and social harms from hydro projects in the region, including declining fish and wildlife population. 

Before the flooding, Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation was a great place to harvest, Johnnie said, but now the water is murky and its levels vary constantly, making it hard for hunters and harvesters to navigate the lakes and rivers. Some commercial fishers have even died on the waters, he said.

With environmental and safety concerns, people now have to travel farther to fish, hunt, pick berries and collect medicine, the elder said, leading to extra costs that add a barrier for harvesters.

"It's very detrimental to the livelihood of the people, and I don't think it's going to change — not for a long time."

The cost barrier is something the Country Foods program is trying to address, with funding allocated to compensate harvesters for their travel and time. The program also lends out gear, and offers equipment in the shop, such as a meat grinder, that people from Nisichawayasihk can use free of charge.