Across Canada, three to five times as many Indigenous people as the general population struggle to put enough food on their tables. Yet healthier and generally preferred to food bought in stores (and often imported at great cost), traditional food is too infrequently on the menu, for lack of adequate promotion and sufficiently protected ecosystems.
This is the conclusion of the authors of a large-scale, decade-long study on food, nutrition and the environment among First Nations. Co-produced by the University of Montreal, the University of Ottawa and the Assembly of First Nations, it includes a survey of 6,487 respondents, interviews with 280 people (Indigenous leaders, health center managers, technical staff, etc. .) and analyzes of the degree of exposure to environmental pollutants through food.
A total of 47% of households reported that their stock of traditional foods ran out before they could get more; 77% would like to serve these traditional foods more often. “In general, traditional foods are preferred over store-bought foods,” the researchers write.
On days when traditional foods were eaten, the intake of almost all nutrients was dramatically increased while the intake of saturated fat was reduced.
Extract from the study on food, nutrition and the environment among First Nations
And that is capital. Because, as the researchers point out, one fifth of First Nations adults suffer from diabetes, often linked to widespread obesity.
The researchers highlight the fact that traditional foods pose no risk to consumption, with two significant exceptions. Large predatory fish (walleye, northern pike) found in some areas have high mercury levels and some women of childbearing age “have high exposure levels, particularly in northern areas of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec ”.
Also, “the use of ammunition containing lead led to very high levels of lead in several samples of mammals and birds sampled. […] The use of other types of ammunition could eliminate this risk of lead exposure ”.
Regarding mercury, hair analyzes were also carried out and in all regions of the country, except Quebec, the mercury content was below the limit deemed acceptable by Health Canada.
“Systemic” solutions
In order for traditional food to regain its place at the heart of First Nations meals, Malek Batal, co-director of the study and professor in the nutrition department of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Montreal, underlines in an interview that the solutions “ must first be systemic ”and go well beyond what Aboriginal people can do individually or at the community level.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTREAL
Malek Batal, co-director of the study and professor in the nutrition department of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Montreal
What influences the diet of indigenous people is mainly a matter of political, economic and ecological decisions, he underlines, referring for example to the impact of climate change on food sovereignty.
But some of the barriers to traditional eating can be reduced with awareness and some corrective action.
Malek Batal notes for example that there is “erosion of knowledge in hunting, fishing and food processing”.
To dry and smoke food, you need a lot of know-how. If we don’t do it regularly, we risk losing it.
Malek Batal, co-director of the study
Thus, some of the recommendations of the study go in the direction of the transfer and the exchange of knowledge, all the more fundamental, notes Malek Batal, that “for the First Nations, traditional food is of importance which goes to the – beyond the nutritional question, it has a cultural and spiritual value ”, the food having a sacred dimension.
This does not exclude the very down-to-earth considerations that the researchers have not neglected by recommending, for example, access to community freezers and specific grants that would support for example “the harvest, the cultivation, the sharing and the preservation of traditional foods ”.
“Awareness campaigns led by indigenous people, with their own values, should also promote the importance of relying on traditional foods as a source of healthy food. […]. ”
What about the water?
The study also highlights how problematic water is in indigenous communities. Of the 6,487 study participants, more than a quarter said they avoided drinking tap water because of the taste or appearance of the water.
Even when the quality of drinking water is satisfactory, “the taste and the color of the water are two factors that limit its consumption”, we can read.
In addition to looking at contaminants in traditional diets, the First Nations Food, Nutrition and Environment Study also collected data on the types and amount of metals in water. home consumption, as well as pharmaceuticals in surface water.
“Some First Nations communities must continue to run tap water before using it in order to reduce lead levels,” say the authors. Lead pipes should be replaced in homes with high levels of lead in drinking water. ”
Another fundamental problem: 35 pharmaceutical products were found in the surface waters of 83% of the communities (432 samples taken, 302 sampling points).
39
Number of grams of country foods consumed on average daily by Indigenous respondents in the study, the equivalent of two and a half tablespoons
2 times
Proportion of Indigenous people with diabetes compared to the national average
Source: First Nations Food, Nutrition and Environment Study