Nunavut food coalition starts with education work

The new Nunavut food security coalition will work on transforming the new Nunavut food guide’s recommendations into action. (FILE PHOTO)

A new Nunavut food security coalition plans to meet next month — and that’s a big step in the right direction, says Government of Nunavut nutritionist Jennifer Wakegijig.

“We’re creating a body that will finally recognize the importance of this issue at a very, very high level,” Wakegijig said.

The GN, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and regional Inuit organizations will participate in the group, Wakegijig said.

And they’ll look at a variety of ways to promote nutrition education, such as 10 new recipes that will be introduced to Nunavut stores in the fall.

From September to June, in every community, the recipes will be promoted one month at a time with the ingredients on sale in the local stores.

“They’ll be promoting the recipes and the [Nunavut] food guide. At the same time our community workers can promote those same recipes too,” she said.

The recipes, developed in consultation with communities, include dishes like beef and barley soup, caribou stew and barley, a cheese-baked omelet, fish chowder, quick-baked char, chicken with rice and peas, roast pork, stir fry and an “easy pizza” with a baked crust.

“This partnership with the retailers is really enhancing or magnifying the visibility,” Wakegijig said, adding that her department will reach out to independent retailers, and not just Arctic Co-operatives Ltd. and North West Co.

The goal of the recipe outreach is to teach people about market foods and encourage people to make healthier choices when it comes to store-bought food, and “make the best use of the dollars they do have for food [in the store]” she said.

Many people in Nunavut buy fatty, salty or sweet foods, even though they are even more expensive than nutritious food items.

A food mail pilot project found an average woman in Nunavut, in one week, consumed $30 worth of pop, $19 worth of chips and candy, $17 worth of processed food like frozen pizza, but only spent $5 for fruits and vegetables and less than $5 for other nutritious food.

“It is forces other than price that are driving these choices,” Wakegijig said.

Wakegijig talked about the nutrition education plan when she met Olivier De Schutter, the United Nations special envoy on the right to food, May 7 in Ottawa.

Her presentation, “Achieving Sustainable Food Security in Nunavut,” included eight key goals that the new Nunavut coalition will work on.

These include:

• increasing access to and use of country foods in daycares, schools and other facilities;

• working with partners to explore targeted “commercialization” of country foods;

• promoting and supporting informal country food networks;

• supporting young and active hunters;

• targeting infant and child feeding practices;

• community wide nutrition programs;

• improving food affordability in communities; and,

• protecting country food species.

Wakegijig said the overall objective isn’t to simply come up with one small announcement and do one small project, but to make “high-level strategic approaches to really make a difference.”

That’s an ambition that’s shared by the GN and Inuit organizations, she said.

Their coalition will lay the groundwork for some major decisions, and it may be able to push for lower food prices, she said.

“We need sustained leadership and action on it over time,” Wakegijig said, adding that various GN departments will address food insecurity from different angles.

But the first step is getting the right people to talk, she said.

Wakegijig said she’s also looking forward to De Schutter’s final report, because “there may be some recommendations in his report that will be really practical for application here too,” she said.