Miijim Miigwetchwendam- Food Security in RHT

By Stefanie Recollet

Our Anishinaabe grandmas were self-sufficient badasses; they grew and harvested their own food, cooked over a wood fire, had root cellars, and preserved through canning and drying. Pre-colonization, our ancestors followed the natural harvesting cycles of our homelands.

The Rez system, which confined us to a tiny fraction of our territories, seriously restricted access to our traditional food sources. Rations replaced our healthy ancestral foods, so instead of our land providing all the sustenance our Indigenous bodies needed, we were given what is now known as the three white devils of nutrition: flour, sugar, and dairy. These became a staple out of necessity, and it was out of resilience and our grandmother’s ingenuity that our precious frybread was born. Yes, believe it, or not our beloved Indian Tacos and Klik weren’t part of our traditional diet!

We may have inherited a taste for canned meat & processed foods, or in more likeliness, they are less expensive options, making them a practical choice for low-income families. But, unfortunately, they are causing a surge of food-related illnesses like lactose intolerance, immune problems, diabetes, stomach cancers and heart disease.

Not only is the modern convenience diet wreaking havoc on our bodies, but industrial agriculture is also hurting Shkagamikwe (Mother Earth).

Monocropping leads to soil depletion and biodiversity loss. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides contaminate nibi (water). Industrial meat production uses up massive areas of land, water, other feed crops and is one of the most significant contributors to climate change.

Our ancestral plant foods and the animals we rely on for sustenance need a healthy environment to thrive. Globalized systems generate an alarming amount of waste. For example, there are massive amounts of packaging that food is shipped and displayed in. When improperly disposed of, it makes its way to the natural environment causing contamination and other adverse impacts like uptake in plants and polluting animal habitat.

We can increase food security by re-localizing our food systems—access to food is more stable and sustainable when you grow it yourself. Many RHT Signatory First Nations have already taken great strides to educate and support their communities in food security.

The ever-decreasing condition of our ecosystems reduce the quality and quantity of our traditional foods, making availability and access a challenge. Thus, creating a dependency on these industrial food systems.

However, external systems are vulnerable to the growing concern of climate change (droughts, wildfires, extreme heat and heavy storms), transportation network disruptions, worker shortages (COVID-19 prevented farm-workers), contamination (food recalls), and price (market) fluctuations. As a result, the unpredictability in the availability and affordability is increasing, and we need to plan critical advancements to ensure our people will be self-reliant enough to withstand failure in centralized systems.

As a strong nation, we need to be able to feed ourselves, our families, and our people. But, unfortunately, colonization and the intentional erasure of Anishinaabe Knowledge have diminished selfsufficiency in our communities.

But we can increase food security by re-localizing our food systems—access to food is more stable and sustainable when you grow it yourself. Many RHT Signatory First Nations have already taken great strides to educate and support their communities in food security.

Niigaaniin, which services seven North Shore First Nations, created a food security group with their communities as part of their emergency response efforts to COVID-19. It has been a successful forum for them to share their efforts to improve access and availability to healthy foods for their members.

Sonya Cloutier was brought onto the COVID-19 Task Team and immediately recognized that food access was an issue for many First Nations when the pandemic hit, with the closing of Reserve borders and not having grocery stores. This led many of the communities to create food box programs to distribute food essential to their households.

The communities have been remarkably resilient in their response. Some have constructed greenhouses, planted gardens, hosted hunt camps that provide wiiyaas (meat) for their food banks and other exciting initiatives like beekeeping and aquaponics. These innovative ideas can assist other First Nations to improve food security for their communities as well.

Robinson Huron Waawiindaamaagewin is excited to feature these Treaty First Nations and their food security initiatives in upcoming editions. Stay tuned!