Linking Theory WIth Practice and Higher Thinking: Chris Scholten: Changes in Aboriginal Dietary Practices (Powerpoint Presentation by Derek Hilts and Chris Scholten)

Before European Contact

nSummer

nWild Rice

nMaple Sugar

nFruits, berries, seeds, nuts

nDuck, deer, moose, rabbit, beaver, buffalo (pemmican)

nFish - Everything edible was eaten (fish heads supposed to be good for sickness)

nWinter

nDuck deer, moose, rabbit, buffalo (pemmican)

nMaple sugar

Fur Trade (1600s)

nCow (beef & milk)

nWine and alcohol (firewater)

nSalt

nCheese

nWheat flour (bread)

nChocolate

nAssorted condiments

nPotatoes, cabbage, rutabagas, turnips, onions, beans, peas, beets, carrots, pumpkins

Food Issues in Residential Schools and Reserves

nResidential Schools (1840’s-1996)

nMany accounts of mouldy or rotten food

nNot enough food

nNutritional Experimentation 1942-1952 (Transitioning from traditional to mainstream)

nReserves

n2005- high E.coli levels in Kashechewan First Nation Reserve

n2006- Substandard or boil-advisory water (nearly 100 reserves)

Food Security

“Food security exists when all people at all times, have physical and economical access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.”

- Food and Agriculture organization, 1996

Food Security Among First Nations

n33.3% are food insecure

n14.4% are severely food insecure

- Canadian Community Health Survey, 2004

To put that in perspective

n12.2% Canadian Households are food insecure

- Canadian Community Health Survey, 2011

Factors that cause food insecurity among First Nations

nVulnerable population

nLow income

nLow education

nAvailability and access

Roots

nCreated in 1998 by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care

nCalculates weekly cost of a fixed basket of food items

nBased on the old Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating

- Nutritious Food Basket, 2010

Nutritious Food Basket Example

Pemmican Recipes

Basic Pemmican

2 oz. cooked, ground, and dried beef

2 and 1/2 oz. lard or vegetable fat (shortening)

Put the meat in a container lined with plastic film. Melt the fat and let it cool slightly to a gluey consistency. Pour the fat over the meat and let it harden. Wrap airtight and store, preferably in a freezer if you won’t need the pemmican for a while.

Pemmican #2

2 oz. cooked, ground, and dried beef

2 and 1/2 oz. lard or vegetable fat

1 T minced dried onions

Prepare as above.

Pemmican #3

2 oz. cooked, ground, and dried beef

3 oz. lard or vegetable fat

1/2 oz. dried (heat dried) ground berries

Prepare as above.

Inuit Diet

nSeal- largest part of the Inuit Diet (Harp Seal during Winter & Ringed Seal all Seasons)