Non-profit funds Nunavut hunters to supply country food to the needy

Feeding Nunavut, a non-profit whose mandate is as its name suggests, is teaming up with Nunavut hunters to help put traditional food onto the plates of those who need it most.

The Ontario-based organization is launching a pilot projectwhere they'll cover hunters' costs of gasoline, ammunition and other supplies,in exchange for some of the meat from their catch.

The meat will then be donated to places such as the local food bank, soup kitchen, school meal programs, food-insecure households or elders.

"We just need the meat. Whoever the hunter is, they can keep all the hides," said Taye Newman, Feeding Nunavut's founder.

"So it becomes a bit of a poverty-reduction initiative because they can use those hides and make boots or mitts."

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Traditional food scarce

The issue Newman's organization is trying to solve is the scarcity of traditional food in some Nunavut communities. Food banks and soup kitchens are stocked with non-perishable foods, but patrons are frequently asking for traditional food, such as caribou or maktaaq.

"We're trying our best to address food insecurity and country food is considered the healthiest, the best, and we're doing our best to provide for the most vulnerable using the best food we can," Newman said.

WadeThorhaug, president of theQayuqtuvikSocietywhich operatesIqaluit'ssoup kitchen, said one of the best ways to promotefood securityis to have locally-sourcedfood, such ascountry food.

"It's something that people want to see more of, and it's something we want to be able to serve," he said.

But that's easier said than done in some communities. Newman said she hascalled around to hunters and trappers organizations which often carry traditional food for sale and been told their freezers are empty.

Many hunters are deterred from going out on a hunt, fearing the investment into gas, ammunition and supplies won't pay off if they come back empty-handed.

Feeding Nunavut's pilot project bankrolled by $5,000 to start, with fundraising efforts ongoing covers those costs up front so even if the hunter doesn't come back with food, they don't absorb the full brunt of the failed investment.

"I do think in the long run, in supporting hunters, the [return] will be more than if we were to take those dollars and to donate them to one program," Newman said.

"Even though we may fund an unsuccessful hunt, the hunts that we do fund that are successful will cover the unsuccessful ones."

Communities to be determined

The pilot project will roll out in a single Nunavut community. One had been selectedbut the choice is being re-evaluated after unforeseen circumstances,said Newman.

"It needs to be a community that has active successful huntersthat want to hunt and need help with hunting, and a community that wants country food, because believe it or not,not everyone does. And a community where, ideally, we can work with the elders.

"We've found in researching this programthat elders are the best resource. They have the best advice and seem to be encouraging and want to find ways to make it sustainable."

There's no timeline yet for when the selected community will be announced. Newmansaidthey'll also sponsor sporadic hunts across Nunavut, depending on animal migration patterns.

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