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

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HEALTH EFFECTS ASSOCIATED WITH FOOD SECURITY ISSUES

CONTAMINANTS AND FOOD SECURITY While it is important to promote traditional food, the quality or safety of this food is another concern. Environmental contaminants such as organochlorines and heavy metals are found in the Arctic environment as a result of long-range atmospheric and oceanic transport and local mining activities. Potential health effects on indigenous peoples are a concern because humans are at the top of the food chain. Some of these pollutants are known to bioaccumulate, and animals at high trophic levels, such as fish and marine mammals, are important components of the traditional diet in the Arctic. Both dietary exposure assessment and biomonitoring studies have shown that Inuit exposure to these pollutants is higher than the Canadian average. Initial results from an ongoing cohort study among the Inuit population of Nunavik have shown a decrease in birth size possibly related to increasing PCB concentrations. Ongoing studies related to this birth cohort study have also found a possible link between contaminants and immune deficits in Inuit infants. With the implementation of the Stockholm Convention on Organic Pollutants and the active research and communication activities conducted under the federal Northern Contaminants Program, there is an increasing awareness of contaminant issues in the Canadian Arctic. Key among them is the balance of risks and benefits associated with

Food security is not only an issue of insufficient amounts of food but also access to enough safe and nutritious foods. It is an important determinant of health, cultural and social well-being, justice, and dignity (McIntyre et al, 2003). People who are “food insecure” (not achieving a status of “food security”) are at increased risk of being overweight, and having chronic health conditions, mental health challenges, and a lower learning capacity (McIntyre et al. 2003). In Canada, younger generations, women and Aboriginal people are most likely to report experiencing food insecurity (McIntyre et al. 2003; Ledrou and Gervais 2005). Residents in the North are the most likely to report food insecurity at the household level, with the rate in Nunavut being four times higher than the national average (Statistics Canada 2005) In northern communities, the diet of many residents is a combination of imported foods from outside of the region and local foods harvested from the environment. Items from outside of the region are transported by air, by truck on seasonal or all-weather roads, by boat, or by a combination of these. Thus, the food security of northern residents may be influenced by climate change through impacts to the access, availability, or quality of locally harvested wildlife, or through impacts to transportation networks linking northern communities with southern sources of market foods.

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IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON FOOD SECURITY IN THE CANADIAN ARCTIC