ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: In Canada, few studies have examined how place shapes Indigenous food environments, particularly among Indigenous people living in southern regions of Ontario. OBJECTIVE: This paper examines and compares circumstances of food insecurity that impact food access and dietary quality between reserve-based and urban-based Indigenous peoples in southwestern Ontario. METHODS: This study used a community-based survey containing a culturally adapted food-frequency questionnaire and cross-sectional study design to measure food insecurity, food access, and dietary quality among Indigenous respondents living in urban (n = 130) and reserve-based (n = 99) contexts in southwestern Ontario. RESULTS: Rates of food insecurity are high in both geographies (55% and 35% among urban- and reserve-based respondents, respectively). Urban-based participants were 6 times more likely than those living on-reserve to report 3 different measures of food insecurity. Urban respondents reported income to be a significant barrier to food access, while for reserve-based respondents, time was the most pressing barrier. Compared with recommendations from Canada's Food Guide, our data revealed overwhelming trends of insufficient consumption in 3 food categories among all respondents. Close to half (54% and 52%) of the urban- and reserve-based samples reported that they eat traditional foods at least once a week, and respondents from both groups (76% of urban- and 52% of reserve-based respondents) expressed interest in consuming traditional foods more often. CONCLUSIONS: Indigenous Food Sovereignty and community-led research are key pathways to acknowledge and remedy Indigenous food insecurity. Policies, social movements, and research agendas that aim to improve Indigenous food security must be governed and defined by Indigenous people themselves. Indigenous food environments constitute political, social, and cultural dimensions that are infinitely place based.
ABSTRACT
This paper presents the results of primary research with 40 survivors of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in two communities: Khao Lak (n=20) and Koh Phi Phi Don (n=20), Thailand. It traces tsunami survivors' perceptions of vulnerability, determines whether residents felt that the tsunami affected different communities differently, identifies the populations and sub-community groups that survivors distinguished as being more vulnerable than others, highlights community-generated ideas about vulnerability reduction, and pinpoints a range of additional vulnerability reduction actions. Tsunami survivors most consistently identified the 'most vulnerable' community sub-populations as women, children, the elderly, foreigners, and the poor. In Khao Lak, however, respondents added 'Burmese migrants' to this list, whereas in Koh Phi Phi Don, they added 'Thai Muslims'. Results suggest that the two case study communities, both small, coastal, tourism-dominated communities no more than 100 kilometres apart, have differing vulnerable sub-groups and environmental vulnerabilities, requiring different post-disaster vulnerability reduction efforts.
