Indigenous Peoples Food Systems for Health

An ITK representative is in Bangkok, Thailand this week participating in an Indigenous Peoples Food Systems for Health project with Dr. Harriet Kuhnlein of McGill University.

Dr. Kuhnlein is the founder of the Centre for Indigenous Peoples Nutrition and Environment (CINE).The Canadian portion of the project is located in Pangnirtung, Nunavut and uses traditional Inuit knowledge, storytelling, and food to promote the health and well-being of community members.

Pangnirtung is one of 12 indigenous communities around the world involved in a project to protect and promote healthy and locally-available foods which indigenous peoples have traditionally harvested and eaten. It highlights the importance of traditional Inuit culture, food, and the environment for the promotion of health.The ultimate aim of the research is to get people off chips and pop and back into country foods such as caribou and seal meat as well as berries and other plants and many other sources of food that is native to indigenous people. One of the goals of a health promotion project in Pangnirtung is developing information that will assist in combating adverse health effects related, or attributable, to rapid changes within community environments. The project has included research on Baffin food sources, traditional food, quality of diet, and food security.

ITK is proud to be an early financial supporter of this important initiative and looks forward to the groups final report and assessment.