Food Security: Nunavut

The Qajuqturvik Community Food Centre in downtown Iqaluit is a hub of food culture that serves 20,000 meals annually, delivers traditional and country food to an average of 65 households weekly, and provides a daily and reliable meal service to 80+ Iqalummiut. The QCFC supports local harvesters by including country food in every meal service and food delivery program, with over 3,500 kilograms of country food purchased in 2021 alone.

Iqalummiut who enjoy country food but face barriers to accessing it can participate in a food box program through the Qajuqturvik Community Food Centre. Food boxes are filled with three to five different types of country food, with five portions per box. The foods are sourced from hunters from Clyde River, Naujaat, Pond Inlet and other Nunavut communities.

The country food box is modelled after the Inuit tradition of feasting. This community approach to accessing country foods and addressing food insecurity connects hunters with community members who may not be able to hunt themselves or who are unable to afford it. Hunting is a genuine food industry that is driving economic growth and expanding food production capacity in the territory, while also reducing the rate of food insecurity in Nunavut.

Without the need for agriculture or animal husbandry, this innovative approach to food security programming in the North is driven by the relationships that skilled Inuit hunters and trappers have with their traditional food systems.