Food Security. A few questions before we start 1.A person would be considered food insecure if: A.They couldn’t afford healthy foods B.If they ran short

Food Security

A few questions before we start

1. A person would be considered food insecure if:A. They couldn’t afford healthy foods

B. If they ran short on food at the end of the month

C. If they had trouble getting to the grocery store

D. If they didn’t have access to traditional foods

E. All of the above

Questions continued…

2. Cultural food security meansA. Everyone belonging to a certain culture is food

secure

B. Everyone in a certain culture knows what food security is

C. People are able to get and enjoy traditional foods

D. Not sharing traditional recipes with people outside of your cultural community


3. Which of the following is an important step for taking action against food insecurity?

A. Telling the local stores to charge more money for unhealthy foods

B. Gathering a group of people to work together

C. Getting the support of your Chief and Council

D. Getting rid of local fast food outlets

E. B and C

F. All of the above

Questions continued….

Answer the following question using the scale below:

4. I know how I could help solve the food insecurity problems in my community

Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 Agree

After this session, we hope you will:

Know what food security is Know why food security is important Know why food insecurity happens in our

communities Know what you can do about food insecurity in our

communities

What is food security?

There is food security when all people have enough food to be healthy. • The food must be: Available, affordable, safe, nutritious

and culturally acceptable• Includes traditional, locally produced and store bought

food

Food Insecurity: the opposite of food security. It means not having enough healthy food.

Cultural Food Security

• Having access to traditional foods is important in many Aboriginal communities

• To have cultural food security, you need:• Land where traditional food sources are found• Hunting/fishing/gathering skills• Traditional food preparation skills

What does Food Security Mean to you?

Being able to get the food I needoBeing able to get to a place where I can buy or

grow food.oNot having to worry about whether I have enough

to eat.oBeing able to prepare and cook food.oBeing able to get food in a way that doesn’t

embarrass me or make me feel ashamed.oNot being judged for where I get my food or for

the foods I choose to eat.

What does food security mean to you?

Being able to eat safe and healthy foodso Be able to afford healthy foods o Having access to safe food that I know is good for meo Being able to give my children the food that I know

they need to grow and be healthyo Knowing where my food came from and what is in it.o Having access to information so that I can understand

how pesticides, preservatives, additives and genetically modified foods can affect my health

What does food security mean to you?

Being able to get foods I like and want to eato Be able to afford the foods I want to eato Enjoying my foodo Sharing my food with family and friendsoCelebrating my culture or community with foodo Enjoying the foods of my culture

What does Food Security Mean to you?

Protecting the water, land and people who grow and produce foodo Being able to grow my own foodo Ensuring that food can be produced for my children’s

childreno Ensuring that growing, producing, processing, storing, and

selling food doesn’t hurt our environment or our communities

o Ensuring that people can earn a living wage by growing, producing, processing handling selling or serving food

o Ensuring that our water is clean enough for us to drink and for fish to survive in.

Why do we care about food insecurity?

Is food insecurity a big problem in your community?

What does food insecurity do to:• Families• The Community• Health

What do I get out of it?

•Fat and salt•More diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity•Feel tired, lazy

•Vitamins, minerals, fibre•Prevent disease•Feel energetic•Nourish your body and spirit

What prevents people in your community from having enough healthy food?

Stories about food insecurity

A 50 year old man lives by himself on the edge of town. He has had diabetes for 10 years. His feet are not in good shape from past infections. It’s not very easy for him to access the health centre unless someone picks him up. Sometimes friends drop by with groceries, but sometimes he can be alone for days. He receives a pension, but it’s small and it’s often hard for him to even cash the cheque.


A single mother with 4 school age children lives just outside of the community. She’s able to purchase food for half of the month when there’s money, but there isn’t much food for the other half. She does have a lot of pasta on hand and makes a lot of bannock, but it doesn’t seem to be enough. Sometimes she buys things in bulk, but often the food goes bad from sitting too long.


A 30 year old mother of 2 arrives at the grocery store to buy some food. She has enough money from her job at the health centre. When she arrives, she finds out that the store shelves are empty as the supply truck has not come for days due to bad weather.

What can YOU do about food insecurity?

Things you can do in your community

Promote healthy eating• breastfeeding, school meal programs, community events

Hunting/gathering/gardening• Hold community hunts, gathering trips, gardens• Teach traditional food gathering skills – elders

Food preparation and processing• cooking classes, canning, drying fish, traditional food

processing

What you can do in your community

Planning skills• Budgeting and menu planning workshops

Storage• Community freezers, storage

Food Sharing Programs• Share food from community hunts and gardens

Transportation• Grocery store bus, carpooling program

What you can do with help from partners?

Local Grocery Store• Provide healthy food demos in the store• Advertise healthy foods• Create a good food box

Chief and Council and Government• Create healthy food policies in schools, work places, etc.• Lobby for better wages, social security and child tax benefits• Support local business ventures that create jobs• Protect the environment

Food Security Success Stories in Alberta

Teaching Traditional Food Skills – Atikameg First Nation• 5 day Food Security Workshop• Moose hunting, Fishing• Canning wild berries• Freezing and canning meat and fish• Safe food handling skills• Brought families and the community together!

• “Traditional Methods of Canning and Preserving . Recipes and Tips from Alberta’s First Nations People”

– Cookbook available from Laura Coleman – a great resource!

Iltai’nssimao’p Project – “One Plants” – Piikani Nation• Community Green House

• Construction of the green house was funded through a grant

• Children at the Elementary and Secondary Schools grow vegetables as part of their curriculum

• Vegetables will be used in the school lunch program and in cooking classes

• Project increases children’s ability to grow and prepare their own vegetables and gives them an appreciation of healthy foods.



Good Food Boxes – Fort Chipewyan– 1 red pepper can cost over $8!– All food is flown in

• $25 boxes available 1st Tuesday of the month– Fresh fruit and vegetables– Safeway provides the produce at a discount

15% off and 15% more produce– Cost of flying in food covered by Health

Promoter Initiative funds– Volunteers sort foods into boxes– 60-70 boxes are sold per month


Good Food Boxes – Fort Chipewyan• This program has inspired the community to use more fruits and

vegetables– Canning sessions, gardening projects


Good Food Boxes – Hobbema• Boxes available mid-month when money is tightest• Boxes contain healthy foods from all food groups• Food purchased through Sobey’s in Wetaskiwin

– $30-35 worth of food for only $20!


Good Food Boxes – Hobbema• Food is picked up from Sobey’s• Volunteer team packages food into bags• Partnerships with income support program and CPNP

– Those with diabetes, pre-natals and elders receive food boxes free of charge

• The team makes 100 to 300 bags per month!


Do you have any success stories from your community?

Steps for starting a food security project

1. What causes food insecurity in your community?• Lack of money? Isolation? Lack of cooking/budgeting

skills? No healthy food available?• Ask other people in your community what they think

causes food insecurity


2. What can you do to help fix these problems?• Start small.• What is already being done in your community? • Could you build on that?• Do you already have equipment, people, supplies you

could use?• What sort of program could your community get

excited about?


3. Gather the people and tools you need• Don’t do it alone!• Who do you need?

– Volunteers, elders, grocery store owners, chief and council, sponsors

• What do you need?– Cooking supplies, hunting supplies, money,

transportation, a kitchen to work in, training

4. Start the project!

Activity – Let’s practice planning food security projects

Three questions to help you get started

1. What is causing this food insecurity problem?

2. What kind of program(s) could help fix the problem?

3. What help do you need? (Who? What?)

Stories about food insecurityA 50 year old man lives by himself on the outskirts of the

community. He has had diabetes for 10 years now. His feet are not in good shape from past infections. It’s not very easy for him to access the health centre unless someone picks him up. Sometimes friends drop by with groceries, but sometimes he can be alone for days on end. He receives a pension, but it’s small and it’s often hard for him to even cash the cheque.


A single mother with 4 school age children lives just outside of the community. She’s able to purchase food for half of the month when there’s money, but there isn’t much food for the other half. She does have a lot of pasta on hand and makes a lot of bannock, but it doesn’t seem to be enough. Sometimes she buys things in bulk, but often the food goes bad from sitting too long.

Stories about food insecurityA 30 year old mother of 2 arrives at the grocery store to

buy some food. She has enough money from her job at the health centre. When she arrives, she finds out that the store shelves are empty as the supply truck has not come for days due to bad weather.

The Emergency Shelf

• Having an emergency shelf can help people be more food secure, especially in remote areas

• What is it?• Foods that don’t spoil that you can always have on hand in

case of emergency• Foods from all the food groups• Canned, dry goods, frozen foods

• Examples of foods that could go in an emergency shelf can be found in the Emergency Shelf handout

We hope that now you…

• Know what food security is• Know why food security is important• Know why food insecurity happens in our communities• Know what we can do about food insecurity in our

communities

A few questions again…

1. A person would be considered food insecure if:A. They couldn’t afford healthy foods

B. If they ran short on food at the end of the month

C. If they had trouble getting to the grocery store

D. If they didn’t have access to traditional foods

E. All of the above


2. Cultural food security meansA. Everyone belonging to a certain culture is food

secure

B. Everyone in a certain culture knows what food security is

C. People are able to get and enjoy traditional foods

D. Not sharing traditional recipes with people outside of your cultural community


3. Which of the following is an important step for taking action against food insecurity

A. Telling the local stores to charge more money for unhealthy foods

B. Gathering a group of people to work together

C. Getting the support of your Band and Counsel

D. Getting rid of local fast food outlets

E. B and C

F. All of the above

Questions continued….

Answer the following question using the scale below:

4. I know how I could help solve the food insecurity problems in my community

Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 Agree

Questions/Discussion?

Thank You!

Documents

Food Security. A few questions before we start 1.A person would be considered food insecure if: A.They couldn’t afford healthy foods B.If they ran short