Supporting local food priorities in the North
The Harvesters Support Grant and the new Community Food Programs Fund are Nutrition North Canada programs developed in direct collaboration with Indigenous and northern partners to support community-based food security solutions. These initiatives are making a difference across isolated and northern communities in Canada.
"The Nutrition North Canada program has become an effective and engaging partner, open to our ideas and ways of supporting our Elders and other vulnerable community members, and we truly feel both recognized and supported in an honest and open spirit of reconciliation. It is a welcome change in our relationship with Canada, one that we hope continues into the future, permitting us to walk together as the Treaties intended."
- Chief Wayne Moonias, Neskantaga First Nation
Photo credit: Matawa First Nations
"The addition of the Harvesters Support Grant and Community Food Programs Fund have been most welcome, not just for the much-needed funding that they provide, but also for the manner in which your program works directly with our communities, recognizing the importance of our traditions, practices, and beliefs, which are core to our identity as a people and as a nation."
- Grand Chief Scott Harper, Anishininew Okimawin
Photo credit: Anishininew Okimawin (Island Lake Tribal Council, Inc.)
The Harvesters Support Grant restores and expands hunting and harvesting culture and practices. It also reintroduces traditional foods into northern diets.
The Harvesters Support Grant supports the repairing, maintaining and storing of ATVs, boats, and snowmobiles. It also helps purchase protective outdoor clothing; safety and rescue equipment; training, certification and education; and food storage, processing, and preparation equipment.
The Harvesters Support Grant also helps maintain harvesting sites, and supports community-led research and innovation.
Photo credit: KKETS
"My family and I would benefit from the grant in order to have proper clothing and supplies that we need when we are out harvesting in the land. We would like to continue teaching our children the life skills in the land and continue the traditions we long to keep alive and pass on to our children."
- Hunter from Neskantaga First Nation
Photo credit: KKETS
The Community Food Programs Fund is another Nutrition North Canada program that was introduced in 2022 to aid food sharing for market, country, and locally produced foods.
Photo credit: KKETS
The Community Food Programs Fund supports residents in need while strengthening social safety networks in the North.
Photo credit: KKETS
The Community Food Programs Fund enhances local food programs in schools, food banks, community kitchens, and Elder meals on wheels. It also supports food storage and distribution, as well as food-buying clubs.
Photo credit: KKETS
Building on the growing success of the Nutrition North Canada Program, both the Harvesters Support Grant and the Community Food Programs Fund promote self-determination and encourage other Indigenous organizations and governments to work on local solutions to address food insecurity in the North.
Photo credit: KKETS