Assessing the Impacts of Climate Change on Food Security in the Canadian Arctic

FOOD SECURITY AND THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE FOOD SECURITY / INSECURITY

vascular problems and generally compromised health for individuals. Social impacts include increased tension in households, increased lethargy, poor school performance, and a range of other social ills. Together, these factors inhibit the development of healthy, active and productive communities and citizens. (ITK, Food Security Workshop, 2007). The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2008 states that “the poorest, landless, and female- headed households are the hardest hit” by increasing food prices (FAO 2008). It gives two reasons for this: women tend to spend proportionally more on food than male-headed households so are hit harder by price increases women face a variety of gender-specific •

Food security is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as, “when all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary and food preferences for an active and healthy life,” (FAO 1996). A household is considered food secure when its occupants do not live in hunger or fear of starvation. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines the four aspects of food security as follows: Food availability is determined by the physical quantities of food that are produced, stored, processed, distributed, and exchanged. Food accessibility is the ability to secure the resources (including legal, political, economic, and social) to access food. Food use refers to how food is used and how people secure essential nutrients from food and includes the nutritional value of the diet, social values of foods, and the quality and safety of the food supply. Food system stability or sustainability is determined by the temporal availability of, and access to, food (FAO 2008). culturally acceptable food, accessible to all in a dignified and affordable manner (Koc & MacRae 2001). For residents of the Canadian Arctic, the ready availability of nutritious foods, and an assured ability to acquire personally acceptable foods, plays an essential role in meeting psycho-social and physiological needs (Campbell 1997). FOOD INSECURITY Food insecurity has been described as “a condition in which people lack basic food intake to provide them with the energy and nutrients for fully productive lives,” (Hunger Task Force, 2008). Impacts from food insecurity include a broad range of direct health issues including diabetes, cardio- • • • • Food security in Canada is defined as the requirement of adequate amounts of safe, nutritious,

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obstacles that limit their ability to produce more food and so benefit from higher food prices.

The report was looking at data from Albania, Bangladesh, Ghana, Guatemala Malawi, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Viet Nam. In the Arctic 50% of households are headed by women.

Box 2. Food Security Definitions

Two commonly used definitions of food security come from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA): Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. (FAO) Food security for a household means access by all members at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. Food security includes at a minimum (1) the ready availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, and (2) an assured ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways (that is, without resorting to emergency food supplies, scavenging, stealing, or other coping strategies). (USDA) • •

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IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON FOOD SECURITY IN THE CANADIAN ARCTIC