One of Canada’s largest aboriginal groups has launched a study of nutrition and food and water safety in 11 First Nation communities in Alberta.
On Wednesday, the Assembly of First Nations announced their ongoing research as part of the First Nations Food, Nutrition, and Environment Study (FNFNES) would be extended to include Alberta.
FNFNES, a study that began in 2008, aims to highlight the nuritional benefits of First Nations diets and the impact of exposure to environmental contaminants in 100 First Nations communities across Canada. Forty-eight communities in British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario already have participated in the project.
“The FNFNES is a positive example of First Nations working directly with the research community to collect and analyze information that affects their lives and their communities,” said AFN National Chief Shawn Atleo in a press release.
The study comes just a few weeks after a report by the Conference Board of Canada found food insecurity among aboriginals is more than twice as high as it is among non-aboriginals. Twenty-one per cent of aboriginals, the study found, suffered from food insecurity, compared to only 7 per cent of non-aboriginals.
Research has consistently found that aboriginals living on and off reserves have higher rates of obesity and household food insecurity and lower overall health levels than the general population. According to Statistics Canada, more than a quarter of First Nations and Inuit people and 22 per cent of Métis are obese, compared to just over a third for non-aboriginal adults. Moreover, aboriginals are less likely to report being in excellent perceived mental or physical health. This difference could be attributed to higher levels of chronic conditions.
Diana Bronson, the Executive Director of Food Secure Canada, believes there is no blanket answer to why food insecurity levels are “so high” among aboriginal populations. And solving household food security, she said, is no easy or fast task.
“They (individuals) have to be able to afford it and I don’t think you can generally solve food insecurity without solving income inequalities,” she said. “we just can’t solve the food problem without solving the economic problems.”
Last year, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food said the Canadian food system presents barriers to the poor when it comes to nutritious diets, and “tolerates” deep inequalities between various demographics. In general, studies suggest aboriginals living on and off reserves face similar barriers to health, including poor access to fresh fruit and vegetables, great distances from grocery stores, high prices for goods and reduced access to medical care.
“This is a country that is rich, but that fails to adapt the levels of social assistance benefits and its minimum wage to the rising costs of basic necessities, including food and housing,” UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Olivier De Schutter said in a news release last year. “Food banks that depend on charity are not a solution: they are a symptom of failing social safety nets that the government must address.”
De Schutter also highlighted serious concerns about the situation in certain remote communities in Manitoba and reserves in Alberta, and called for a structural approach to tackling the cultural and socio-economic barriers these individuals face in obtaining food.
FNFNES data from First Nations communities in Ontario is scheduled to be released sometime in the near future. The study is a joint effort with the University of Ottawa and the University of Montreal.