Presentation given by Marie Pierre Lardeau to the IPY 2012 Conferece in Montreal on April 27, 2012

1. Responses to Food Insecurity
Experiences of users of community based
programs in Iqaluit, Nunavut
Marie-Pierre Lardeau1, MSc, Dr. James Ford1, Gwen
Healey2, MSc, Will Vanderbilt1
1 Department of Geography, McGill University
2 Arctic Health Research Network Qaujigiartiit

2. Food security
 A functionning food system provides food for all, at all times
ACCESSIBLE AVAILABLE QUALITY
 When stressed food insecurity occurs
 Food insecurity in the Arctic
 Food insecurity very high (Inuit Health Survey)
 Inuit food system sensitive to climate change
 Food insecurity
 Partly explained by climate change
 High prices of food
 Social change

3. Research Context
Short term solution to food needs
 increasingly used as long term solutions
New in the Arctic
typically based on Southern ways
 Sharp increase in Iqaluit
Root cause of food insecurity: low income.
Climate change and increased vulnerability to food insecurity
increase need at the local level for such services
Currently, we do not know
 Who is using them
 How these services are helping
 How are community members dealing with limited access to food
 If users of these services can access food through sharing

4. Community Programs in Iqaluit
 Tukisigiarvik
 3500 visits/yr
 Country foods
 Soup Kitchen
 9000 meals/yr
 Adults
 Food Bank
 1062 visits/yr
 Families

5. Meals served at the Soup Kitchen 2005-2009, per month
1800
1600
Children
1400 Adults
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0

6. Number of adults and children reported in households
receiving support from the food bank 2007-2009, per month
1000
Children
900 Adults
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0

7. Photovoice
 Participatory based
research method
 Give a voice to
often marginalized
groups
 Engage in
research
 February 2010

8. Interviews
 May 2010
Survey
Who are the users?
Socio-demographic
Interaction with sharing networks
Coping Strategies
Frequency of use of services
In-depth questions
How are the services helping?
Seasonality to food insecurity?
Challenges faced in order to be food
secure

9. R
E
S
U
L
T
S

10. Results–Survey
Basic Demographic Information
0% 0%
 N=94
 97% self identified Inuit Females
44%
Males
56%
100
Age Groups
80
60
40
25 28 26
20 14 10
0
18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 54 and more

11. Household Information
Household Type %
Living with extended family/friends 36
Two parent 23
Living alone 16
Shelter/Homeless 16
Lone mother 9

12. The Food Bank, Soup kitchen and Tukisigiarvik
mostly help residents from Iqaluit
Iqaluit was the hometown of the majority of respondents (76%)
 The majority (77%) of those not from Iqaluit, were from other Nunavut
communities
72% unemployed at the time of the survey
 8 times more than community as a whole
 Main source of income
 Social assistance 60%
 Employment: 27%
 Income rarely or never enough: 57%

13. Food Insecurity and Coping Strategies
 Running out of food and not being able to access some was a major concern for
the majority of the respondents (90%)
100  Participants living in
households with a hunter were
80 87 more likely to report selling
things for money to purchase
72 food than participants living in
60
60 households without a hunter.
53
40 49  Selling hunting gear
 Short term benefits
20  Decrease access to
country foods in the long
term
0
Cheaper Reducing Reducing Sending Selling
Foods portions for portions for people to things
themselves others eat
elsewhere

14. Most program users live in households without
hunters
77% of respondents live in a
household without a hunter
 Tukisigiarvik, is the main source of
country food for 33% of the
respondents
Sharing of food
 72% said yes
 28% didn’t have anyone who could
share food with them
 One point in time

15. Winter is a tough part of the year
 Over half (54%) of the respondents said that winter was the
most difficult time of the year to have enough food
 less hunting in the community
 less country foods
 bad weather
 expenses go up during that time
 Winter is also time of the year where 30% of respondents
who have fluctuating numbers of people in their household
also get the most people during that time.
"It is hard to have food in the house when there is no house." (male, 25-34 yrs old, homeless)

16. The Food Bank, the Soup Kitchen and
Tukisigiarvik are considered essential
Food Bank Soup Kitchen Tukisigiarvik
% % %
Do you use it? 93 90 71
Since when?
- In the past year 35 42 39
- More than a year ago 65 58 61
How often?
- At least a few times a week 791 81 70
- Once every few months 15 15 25
- A few times a year 5 4 5
1For the food bank: at least once a month
62% use all three programs No association between 20% of respondents said that
frequency of use of CFP and the most difficult time of the
gender, employment status year was when services
or place of birth providing food where closed

17. How do these organizations help?
100
82
80
60
38
40 32
26
20
0
Hunger/no food at Improve well-being Good for community Prevent helplessness
home
Without them, my Makes me feel good They help a lot of people When I get very
family would be going to come here. I in Iqaluit. People know depressed from
hungry and the people know my children things will be OK because hunger, they lift me
I am staying with won’t go hungry they can come here up
It would be really There would be a lot
I didn’t have any food Takes away the anger
stressful if it didn’t more social problems
at home today exist without these
organisations

18. Main Challenge to food security?
• Limited access to money
– Unemployment: 35%
– Income support too low, not having enough
money: 26%
– Need to support others, household crowding: 14%
– Cost of food: 12%
– Addictions: 8%
– Other: 6%

19. Recommendations
 Country Foods at the Food bank and Soup Kitchen
 Staples considered as useful
 Helping to ensure that community members can access hunting
equipment and keep equipment they own
 Many reported having to sell hunting equipment to access money to buy food
 Many reported having hunting skills but no equipment, or could not go hunting
because of the cost associated with hunting.
 A co-op system to allow community members without equipment to
access hunting gear could be implemented.
 Financial incentives to hunt should be developed to ensure that hunters
don’t sell their equipment for financial reasons.

20. Recommendations
 A place to stay during the day, especially during the Winter
16% homeless or living at the shelter
Need to have a place to stay during the day
 winter is a particularly vulnerable time
Tukisigiarvik was the only organization providing a warm place during the
day, and participants expressed that beyond the ability of accessing country
foods there, the main reason to attend Tukisigiarvik was because they felt
good, safe and welcomed there.
 Sharing networks to distribute country foods need to be preserved
and facilitated
 Community freezers
 Reduced cargo cost for shipping of country foods between communities
 Support for the new country food market in Iqaluit
 Subsidies on country foods sold at stores and
 Subsidies to hunters to allow them to go hunting

21. Recommendations
 Teach how to make the best of store foods offered at the Food
Bank
 Develop cooking classes, pamphlets with recipes, workshops
to share with users of these services how to get the most
nutritional value out of the foods being distributed.
 Coordinate between different departments to develop long
term solutions to food insecurity

22.  Participants
 Tukisigiarvik Friendship Centre, the Iqaluit
Thank you Food Bank and the Iqaluit Soup Kitchen
 Funding: ArcticNet, Nassivik, SSHRC