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Determinants, effects, and coping strategies for low-yield periods of harvest: a qualitative study in two communities in Nunavut, Canada

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Abstract

Food sovereignty among Inuit in Nunavut, Canada has long meant year-round harvest of country (hunted, fished, or gathered) food. In recent decades, climatic and non-climatic challenges have complicated these subsistence activities, threatening food security. We examine the meaning of country food, identify determinants of low-yield periods of country food harvest and their effects on community health, and summarize coping strategies and ideas for sustaining food security during these “leaner” periods. Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted in July and August of 2018 with elders and/or hunters and trappers in Cambridge Bay and Pond Inlet. We found country food holds diverse meanings in the lives of our participants, including for their diet and nutrition, health, Inuit identity and traditions, practice of harvest and subsistence, and spirituality. Participants reported reduced wildlife populations, environmental or weather issues, changing wildlife migration patterns, and financial or equipment-related constraints as determinants of low-yield periods of harvest. Community health is impacted during lean periods across four interrelated dimensions: “craving” of country food, physical health, mental health, and nutrition. Due to their lifelong reliance on country food, elders were described as being particularly vulnerable and are prioritized within the traditional food sharing system. The most commonly cited coping strategies were turning to intra- or inter-community food sharing networks for country food and purchasing groceries. To support communities during low-yield periods of harvest, participants suggested increased support for Hunters and Trappers Organizations to acquire country food for community distribution, as well as greater financial and equipment support for harvesters.

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Acknowledgements

The authors deeply appreciate the community members who participated in this study and shared their knowledge, insights, and experiences.

They also wish to express their gratitude to Lindsay Turner, Tammy Boutilier, Vincent Gosselin, and Jennifer Jhingoor in the Government of Nunavut for their support and our ongoing dialogue regarding this project and its practicable impacts.

This research was supported by Polar Knowledge Canada (POLAR) and funded by the Yale Center on Climate Change and Health through a grant from the Overlook International Foundation; Yale MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies; Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies; Coca-Cola World Fund at Yale; Yale Center for the Study of Race, Indigeneity, and Transnational Migration; and Yale Women Faculty Forum.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA

    Sappho Z. Gilbert, Samantha N. Levy, Nicola L. Hawley & Robert Dubrow

  2. Yale Center on Climate Change and Health, New Haven, CT, USA

    Sappho Z. Gilbert & Robert Dubrow

  3. UiT: The Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø, Centre for Women’s and Gender Research, Tromsø, Norway

    Deatra E. Walsh

  4. Ekaluktutiak Hunters & Trappers Organization, Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada

    Beverly Maksagak

  5. Mittimatalik Hunters & Trappers Organization, Pond Inlet, Nunavut, Canada

    Mona I. Milton

  6. University of Leeds, Priestley International Centre for Climate, Leeds, UK

    James D. Ford

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  1. Sappho Z. Gilbert
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  2. Deatra E. Walsh
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  3. Samantha N. Levy
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  7. Nicola L. Hawley
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  8. Robert Dubrow
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Correspondence to Sappho Z. Gilbert.

Ethics declarations

This study was registered (No. 0403918) with the Nunavut Research Institute in lieu of licensing due to its partnership with the Government of Nunavut’s food security team in the Division of Poverty Reduction within the Department of Family Services. This research was deemed exempt from Institutional Review Board review by the Yale University Human Investigation Committee (Protocol #2000023489).

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The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The funders had no role in study design nor in data analysis and interpretation.

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Gilbert, S.Z., Walsh, D.E., Levy, S.N. et al. Determinants, effects, and coping strategies for low-yield periods of harvest: a qualitative study in two communities in Nunavut, Canada. Food Sec. 13, 157–179 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-020-01112-0

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