Accounting for Community Capacities: Food (In)Security in Kugaaruk, Nunavut - Merissa Daborn, Katherina Qirngnuq & Tom Kayaitok

Food sharing, a long-standing practice and an Inuit law, importantly informs food programming in Kugaaruk, Nunavut. Despite realities that make food sharing a hard practice to maintain, such as high costs and ineffective policies, community members have sought to continue food sharing in a multitude of ways. Our research with the community of Kugaaruk utilizes frameworks of community economy to understand how Inuit practices of sharing need to be reflected in federal food policies that seek to remedy high rates of food insecurity. This research demonstrates how community economic capacities in Kugaaruk are informed by and thrive through the practice of food sharing. A range of community members in Kugaaruk were interviewed including Elders, hunters, and people who run and use community food programs. If the federal government is serious about helping reduce rates of food insecurity in Nunavut, they need to support existing community capacities that are based on Inuit values of sharing to ensure people are able to meet their food needs. Recent changes to the Nutrition North program that will provide funding for hunters are a step in this direction, but leave much to be desired in terms of Inuit community priorities for food security programming based on their community capacities. In this presentation we will outline the abundance of strategies and theorizations community members in Kugaaruk have identified for appropriate approaches to attaining food security.