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So it's available and accessible, but not adequate? That don't impress me much.  

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So it's available and accessible, but not adequate? That don't impress me much.  

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To the tune of 'That Don't Impress Me Much' by Shania Twain
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Saying it again for the people in the back: defining 'wellbeing' is essential in establishing the 'right to food' and ensuring an adequate diet.

First, nutritional adequacy is essential for physical health, the problem is that 97% of food that makes up Yukon's food system comes from the south. There are two main problems regarding nutritional adequacy with imported food. First, due to the long transport time, most items must have long shelf lives… ultra-processed foods with little nutritional benefit. These foods are high in sugar, salt, saturated fats and low in protein and micronutrients. These ultra-palatable, cheap foods are creating a dietary transition towards a western diet and with that comes a transition into lifestyle diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, Suzanne made an excellent point about the decreased nutritional content in 'fresh' produce such as Kale, which ends up losing 70% of its folate composition by the time it gets onto Yukon shelves.

Second, it is evident that having traditional foods available and accessible in the supermarket did not make food adequate. Harold from Long Ago People's place made it apparent that the connection to the land is just as important as the food that comes from it. In addition, these foods are nutritionally adequate and hold a plethora of micro and macronutrients. Also, it became evident that it is not only First Nation people that have a connection to the land, but also the settlers who live in Yukon whom enjoy hunting, gathering and harvesting, concluding that it is a part of many people’s identity.
Thus let us redefine 'wellbeing' to include the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health connected to the land and the community. It is evident that adequate food makes the individual and the community stronger, healthier and more resilient.

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So it’s available, but can you access it? 

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So it’s available, but can you access it? 

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When I came into the field school, I expected grocery store food price to be the most substantial barrier to food. However, the accessibility of food in the Yukon goes beyond being able to afford food in the grocery store, but rather the economic accessibility to grocery store food and hunting supplies, as well as the  accessibility to the knowledge and skills needed to hunt or gather one’s food. Long Ago People’s Place put into perspective the importance and necessity for traditional education regarding foraging and hunting. Harold from Long Ago People’s Place also showed us how traditional methods create a sustainable and humane manner of acquiring available food. Moreover, Suzanne Cracker shared with us the usefulness and ways to increase one’s food security as she gained foraging skills through books.  Both, these example from a First Nations perspective and settler perspective proves the importance of the accessibility to knowledge to obtain available food.

Furthermore, accessing food in a dignified way is also essential. After listening to Carrie from the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition, the structural barriers, including poverty and its implicit consequences were presented. For example, I presumed that the Downtown Urban Community Garden in Whitehorse was accessible to everyone with a low fee of $25/year. However, when you are a single mom making the minimum wage of $11.51 per hour rather than the minimum living wage of $18.57 per hour it actually takes to live a healthy life in Yukon and has to use the majority of her income on providing housing for her family, the fee now seems more inaccessible. Also, although the community garden donates 700 tons of produce to the food bank, it lacks the consideration of dignity in acquiring one’s food and is only a band-aid to the more significant problems such as economic inequities. The dignity in the right to food can be found in supporting a fair minimum wage, fair subsidies and grants to increase people’s capacity, which will in turn increase peoples economic and social opportunities, in turn, increasing food security and creating sustainable change.

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Reflecting back on the last two weeks it is clear that the sources from where food comes from for Yukoners can be found from two food systems which case come together to create the local Yukon food system. First, the availability of industrial foods make up the modern food system and sources from southern provinces and across the global. The dependency and vulnerability that the Yukon food system and Yukoners themselves have to the south was a recurring theme.

In 2012 the only road into Whitehorse and Dawson City was washed out, leading to empty grocery stores in less than a week. This event puts into perspective the importance of food sovereignty in the right to food. The right to food begins with the availability of food, and thus if the availability of food is at the mercy of southern supply and sensitive supply lines, the right to food in Yukon is compromised. Second, within Yukon there is the traditional food system made up of food acquired through hunting, gathering and sharing food. I was surprised to discover that both settlers and first nation communities use traditional methods for food acquisitions. I think this finding proves the sustainability and the real value in living off the land and eating local. However, it was local farming that surprised me the most. Local farming, presented by the TH farm, Bart’s farm, Otto’s Farms, Bev’s pork and cattle and many more gave strong evidence that growing and raising food in the north is possible. In additional, all these farmers once again brought up the 2012 highway washout, proving the necessity for farms such as the ones above to increase the availability of local food which in turn increase the sustainability and decrease Yukon’s vulnerability to outside food systems.

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Acquiring nutritious and culturally adequate food in a dignified way is essential to the ‘right to food.’
Today Kristina and Carrie from the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition took the time to share with us the grassroots, think tank approach to eliminating poverty and subsequently increasing the economic access component of food security in the Yukon.

Here is a map of Whitehorse and the different ways and food systems in which people acquire food.

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Excited to learn about how farmers in Yukon are contributing to their local food system and increasing regional food security!