Saskatoon Tribal Council, Sask. Polytechnic collaborating to tackle food insecurity

The Saskatoon Tribal Council and Saskatchewan Polytechnic have signed a memorandum of understanding which the organizations said will "enhance training and applied research for Indigenous food sovereignty."

The five-year agreement sets the framework forcollaborationon food security in Indigenous communities throughout the province, and research onhow to best make use of available land.

"If there's one thing that First Nations have, it's land," said Tribal Chief Felix Thomas.

While there is land, some parts of the province where predominantly Indigenous communities reside might not have ideal conditions for agriculture and horticulture, he added. If there is a lack of access to healthy and nutritious food, then food security might lessenfor families and communities.

A householdis considered food insecure whenthere is a barrier to accessing healthy, nutritious meals, such as money constraints. When a household is food insecure, its members might opt for the cheapest option available, but not necessarily the most healthy.

"The further north you go, the more of an impact you can make," Thomas said of the agreement.

For the Lac La RongeFood Bank, which operates its own garden, the area is described as a lot of "rocks, trees and water."

"We hope for healthy non-perishables but we don't even aspire to go mostly fresh," said Trudy Connor, secretary of the board for the food bank. "Fresher [foods] are an appreciated bonus, I would say."

The food bank, located in La Ronge, Sask., 334 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon, provided 174 householdswith food hampersin July from La Ronge and surrounding communities.

Connor said 46 per cent of the food bank's 730 clients were children.

The food bank relies on a helping hand from about 80 volunteers. Connorand others coordinate to shop for food, package it, box it and tend to a plot of land where the food bank gardens its own produce.

"It's not healthy soil but it's still soil, and it still grows a few things," Connor said.

The food bank does get help from community members as well, such as elders who go berry picking.

When it comes to wild meat donations, it's simpler for the food bank to just purchase meat, Connor said.Wild meat has to be prepared by a certified butcher, which creates an additional barrier for the food bank.