As grocery prices climb, Hopedale woman fights food insecurity with hunting and foraging

Dawn Winters grew up hunting and foraging.

When she wasa kid, her dad took hereverywhere,she says.

Today, Winters says those skills keep her family fed, adding a layer of security to her life.Knowing where her next meal is coming from gives her peace of mind.

"I felt proud and grateful that I was able to grow up that way," she said.

Not everyonehad that upbringing. Winters says she's watchedfood insecurity escalate around her in recent years. People dependent on store-bought food sometimes have to go hungry, she says, relying on smaller portions and stretching out their budgets as grocery prices grow.

$18 for a small serving of roast beef

Some of those grappling with the rising cost of living inHopedalehave moved away something she says she would consider, too, if not for her ability to hunt.

"There's a little roast beef here at the store no bigger than your hand, and that was $18. That's probably only good enough for two people, and I got a family of four," she said.

Winters supplements her catches with store-bought goods, but says that meat isn't quite as satisfying as the game she snares. Fish which she dries and stores keeps her kitchen stocked.

She also joinsa group of hunters each spring, in search of wild eggs from birds like ducks or geese.

"It's the first wild food we have access to in the springtime.Once the ice breaks, everybody takes off in their boats," she said.

WATCH |Photographer Dawn Winters talks about her family's experience of hunting wild game on the north coast of Labrador:

Hunting and gathering in Hopedale

3 years ago

Duration 2:50

Photographer Dawn Winters of Hopedale takes us through her family's experience of hunting wild game on the north coast of Labrador

"You're lucky if you find just one or two eggs. So it all depends on when the birds lay and when we're able to go out. It's the only time when the season opens, the only time you can get it."

Inuit communities across Labrador's coast traditionally collect wild eggs. Although the hunt takes time, coming home with a haul makes all that effort worth it.

"You could wait for hours. If you're lucky, you can just wait for an hour or two, if they come right away. Sometimes they don't even come at all," she says.

Whatever Winters doesn't need is usually offered to a relative or the wider community. It's a practice that allows her to stay connected to her family roots, while helping to feed others.

"Without it, we'd be more worried," she says.

Foraging skills remain strong

It's not an easy burden, though, especially if she doesn't have enough stocked away for her family.

"You have that worry in your heart that you're not providing, or not good enough," she said. "Trying to put food on the table is stressful."

Despite rising grocery prices, a good number of Hopedale residents can hunt, fish and forage those skills remainstrong, she says, along the coast.

"To know that it's still alive and well, especially to have your kids there and learn those traditions as well it's good to know that people are still carrying it on."

Fed Up is aseries by CBC NL, in collaboration with Food First NL,exploring the issues of food insecurity and why many people in the province are struggling to access food.

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