Nunavut researchers say more should be done to understand how climate is changing access to country food

A Nunavut researcher says more money and research is needed to understand how the availability of country food in Inuit communities is changing because of the warming climate. 

"Country food is strongly associated with food security and with food sovereignty," said Amy Caughey, a research associate with the University of Alberta who lives in Iqaluit. "Improved access to country food is a need for many communities that women have expressed."

Country food comes from the land and includes game meat, migratory birds, fish and foraged foods.

Igah Sanguya, who is also a research associate at the university and is from Clyde River, worked alongside Caughey to interview 10 Inuit women to understand how country food impacts hunger, cravings, healing and how communities are responding to changes in its availability.

They both attended the ArcticNet conference in Ottawa last month, where Sanguya spoke about their research.

"Country food is our medicine and it's also our soul food," Sanguya said in an interview.

"We live in a cold climate, so we have to have protein in order for us to have that warmth in our bodies, and that's exactly where our warmth comes from, from animals, our animals, that we call country food," she said. 

But Caughey said access to country food has become a problem. 

"The climate change is changing a lot," said Eva Suluk with the Aqqiumavvik Arviat Wellness Society in Arviat. Part of her job is to organize feasts of country food in her community. A recent one included caribou, whale, Arctic char and seal. 

Food Banks Canada says rates of food insecurity in Nunavut are the highest in Canada. Seventy-six per cent of Inuit over the age of 15 in the territory said their household was food insecure as of 2021, according to the Nunavut Food Security Coalition.

Caughey said conversations about preparing and preserving country food shed light on what's going on in the environment, and that information is "important to inform environment policy, health policy, and nutrition and well-being." 

She also says there's more country food in communities when funding is provided to local hunters and trappers organizations and harvesters.