Sustainable Agriculture for Alaska and the Circumpolar North: Part I. Development and Status of Northern Agriculture and Food Security

• Published in: ARCTIC
• Main Authors: Stevenson, Kalb T., Alessa, Lilian, Kliskey, Andrew D., Rader, Heidi B., Pantoja, Alberto, Clark, Mark
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Arctic Institute of North America 2014
• Subjects: Alaska; circumpolar; subarctic; sustainable agriculture; farming; resilience; food security; history; policy; circumpolaire; subarctique; agriculture durable; agriculture; résilience; insécurité alimentaire; histoire; politique; Arctic; Subarctic; subarctique*
• Online Access: https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/67447

Alaska is food insecure, importing the vast majority of its agricultural products and commodities and maintaining a minimal year-round food supply. Much of the circumpolar North, with some notable exceptions, is also food insecure and similarly reliant on foods imported from outside regions. The stark differences in food policies, food security, and overall production that exist between individual countries and regions of the circumpolar North are likely due to variability in their physical and social environments, their varying agrarian histories (e.g., Old World vs. New World), and their different first-hand experiences with food insecurity, often during wartime. Alaska’s agricultural history is unique, having progressed through periods of exploration and expansion and having experienced both success and failure. Agriculture exists today in Alaska as an underdeveloped natural resource – based industry that has been shaped by historical events and developmental processes and continually influenced by a host of environmental and socioeconomic factors. Continued interaction between stakeholders, agencies, and others will help the industry to progress to the point of meeting increasing food demands and improving food security. L’Alaska est aux prises avec l’insécurité alimentaire en ce sens que l’État importe la grande majorité de ses produits et marchandises agricoles et qu’il maintient un approvisionnement alimentaire minime à l’année. Malgré quelques exceptions remarquables, une grande partie du Nord circumpolaire souffre d’insécurité alimentaire et dépend de produits alimen­taires importés d’autres régions. Les importantes différences qui existent en matière de politiques alimentaires, d’insécurité alimentaire et de production générale entre les pays et les régions du Nord circumpolaire sont vraisemblablement attribuables aux divers environnements physiques et sociaux, à leur histoire agraire variée (celle de l’Ancien Monde par opposition à celle du Nouveau Monde) et à leurs différentes expériences directes ...