Adult learners in Nunavut get free breakfast program: minister

Joe Saviktaaq, Nunavut’s family services minister, told the legislature on Wednesday, March 14 that adult learners in the territory now have access to a free breakfast program. “My department remains committed to strengthening partnerships across government departments and community organizations to improve Nunavummiut’s access to food,” he said. (FILE PHOTO)

Hunger is so prevalent among Nunavut adults that the territorial government’s Department of Family Services is now supporting breakfast programming for adult learners across the territory.

The program is part of a new pilot project to address food insecurity, said Joe Savikataaq, Nunavut’s family services minister, on Wednesday, March 14 in the territorial legislature.

Savikataaq said that since January, about 127 students enrolled in programs with Nunavut Arctic College, at 20 community learning centres across Nunavut, have gained access to breakfast through this pilot project.

As well, more than 20 students at the Nunavut Fisheries and Marine Training Consortium have access to breakfast through the same program, he said in his minister’s statement.

“We know that families in Nunavut experience food insecurity. By making breakfast available to adult learners in these programs, we are supporting them in their pursuit of training and self-sufficiency. We are also alleviating some of the pressures they may experience on a daily basis while they ensure their families are fed, often at the expense of their own hunger,” he said.

For this pilot program, the Government of Nunavut teamed up with Nunavut Arctic College and the Nunavut Fisheries and Marine Training Consortium.

Many Nunavut residents go hungry, said a 2017 food report card for Canada that gave the lowest grade possible to Nunavut.

The study from the Conference Board of Canada said that in Nunavut, moderate to severe food insecurity—or a lack of food—affects more than one in three Nunavut residents and one in two Nunavut Inuit.

It confirmed what Statistics Canada said last February, that the majority of Inuit adults in Nunavut—roughly 55 per cent—continue to be hit hard by food insecurity and don’t get enough food.