Food Security in Nunatsiavut: From Historical Perspectives to Future Prospects

• Main Author: Bowers, Renee
• Other Authors: Dubois, Lise
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa 2022
• Subjects: Labrador Inuit; Food Security; Policy; Canada; inuit
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10393/43409; https://doi.org/10.20381/ruor-27626

Objective: Inuit in Canada identify food security as an Inuit-specific determinant of health. Historical and contemporary policies shape determinants of health. These policies vary among the four Inuit regions or Land Claim Areas in Canada that comprise Inuit Nunangat. This thesis focuses on one specific Inuit population, Labrador Inuit, located in Nunatsiavut, Canada, which is the southernmost Inuit Territory. Recognizing the variation and distinctness of each Inuit region, I pose the question: What is the role of policy in food security in Nunatsiavut, Labrador? To answer this question, I completed three studies. Study one is an analysis of the historical changes experienced by Labrador Inuit in governance, nutrition, and food security policies from the 1500s to 2005. In 2005, Labrador Inuit formed the first Inuit self-government in Canada, the Nunatsiavut Government. This study provides an understanding of the historical influences on the current context of Nunatsiavut and the policies that pertain to food security of Labrador Inuit. Study two is a scoping review that identifies current policies that pertain to food security and are implemented in Nunatsiavut. Finally, study three looks towards the future. In this study, policy actors were interviewed on policies that pertain to food security to understand their perspectives on current policies, including the opportunities for and barriers to improving food security in Nunatsiavut. Methods: Article one is a historical-critical narrative analysis of governance, nutrition studies and interventions and policies that pertain to food security. It uses a critical dietetics lens to examine the extrinsic causes of nutrition and food security issues that resulted from colonization, and describes the interventions implemented to address them. Each document included in this analysis was assessed by the criteria for historical research that includes provenance, purpose, context, veracity, and usefulness. Also, this study employs process tracing using an adapted timeline ...