Géographie du système alimentaire des Inuit du Nunavik : du territoire nourricier au supermarché
This thesis focuses on the transition of Nunavik’s food system and on the consequences of that transition for the region’s inhabitants. The thesis’s hypothesis is that the food system’s new territorial configuration changes the interactions between humans and the natural environment, and thus becomes incompatible with Nunavik’s ecosystems as well as Inuit culture and identity. Intensifying relations between the Inuit economy and the globalized economy put northern territories in a position of unequal exchange and dependency in relation to producers and suppliers from an exogenous agri-food sector that offers northern residents few opportunities to be heard. Food market sovereignty is thus severely restricted, which harms Inuit health and well-being. This thesis explores potential solutions for improving the food system’s resilience, such as developing community gardening projects and improving access to traditional foods. The data on which the four articles of this thesis are based was collected between October 2015 and March 2019 in the northern villages of Kuujjuaq and Kangiqsujuaq, in Nunavik. The variety of methods used, combining semi-constructed interviews, the development of mental maps, soil analyses and participatory workshops, made it possible to meet the triple challenge of interdisciplinarity, participatory action research, and terrain particularly difficult to access. The results illustrate that traditional foods from hunting, fishing and gathering activities remain major factors for the Inuit in their interactions with the natural environment and in their well-being, although those activities now represent only a small fraction of the food supply. Loss of mobility and the adoption of a new lifestyle, accompanied and made possible by the food system’s transition, have disturbed the interactions between humans and the natural environment on various levels. The greatest pressure exerted on the natural environment originates from human activities carried out elsewhere in the world and from an incompatible consumption model that generate numerous negative externalities on the environment and human health. One of the most significant contributions of this thesis is to have demonstrated the mechanisms by which nutritional, social, climate and energy issues are interrelated. The conclusion, pointing to the cumulative consequences of climate change, environmental contamination and colonization, summarizes the issues confronting Nunavik’s socio-ecological system.
Nunavik food system food sovereignty resilience arctic urban agriculture