Country food

Indigenous peoples in Canada
First Nations Inuit Métis
History Paleo-Indians Pre-colonization Genetics Residential schools Indian hospitals Conflicts First Nations Inuit
Politics Crown and Indigenous peoples Treaty rights Health Policy Numbered Treaties Royal Commission Self-government Indian Act British Columbia Treaty Process Idle No More Missing and murdered Indigenous women Politics Organizations Case law Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada
Culture Indigenous cultures Indigenous personalities Country food Music
Demographics Indian reserves AB FN Métis Atlantic CA BC MB ON QC SK Territories Pacific Coast
Linguistics Indigenous languages Inuit languages Indigenous English Dialects NAPA Aboriginal syllabics Inuit grammar
Religions Traditional beliefs Inuit religion
Index Index of articles Indigenous First Nations Inuit Métis Stubs
Wikiprojects Portal Indigenous Canadian portal WikiProject Indigenous North Americans First Nations Commons Wiktionary Inuit Commons Wiktionary Métis Commons Wiktionary

Country food, in Canada, refers to the traditional diets of Indigenous peoples (known in Canada as First Nations, Metis, and Inuit), especially in remote northern regions where Western food is an expensive import, and traditional foods are still relied upon.^{[1][2] [3]}

The Government of the Northwest Territories estimated in 2015 that nearly half of N.W.T. residents in smaller communities relied on country food for 75% of their meat and fish intake, in larger communities the percentage was lower, with the lowest percentage relying on country foods (4%) being in Yellowknife, the capital and only "large community". The most common country foods in the NWT's area include mammals and birds (caribou, moose, ducks, geese, seals, hare, grouse, ptarmigan), fish (lake trout, char, inconnu (coney), whitefish, pike, burbot) and berries (blueberries, cranberries, blackberries, cloudberries).^[4]

In the eastern Canadian Arctic, Inuit consume a diet of foods that are fished, hunted, and gathered locally. This may include caribou, walrus, ringed seal, bearded seal, beluga whale, polar bear, berries, and fireweed.

The cultural value attached to certain game species, and certain parts, varies. For example, in the James Bay region, a 1982 study found that beluga whale meat was principally used as dog food, whereas the blubber, or muktuk was a "valued delicacy".^[5] Value also varies by age, with Inuit preferring younger ring seals, and often using the older ones for dog food.^[6]

Contaminants in country foods are a public health concern in Northern Canada; volunteers are tested to track the spread of industrial chemicals from emitters (usually in the South) into the northern food web via the air and water.^[7]

In 2017, the Government of the N.W.T. committed to using country foods in the soon-to-open Stanton Territorial Hospital, despite the challenges of obtaining, inspecting, and preparing sufficient quantities of wild game and plants.^[8]

In Southern Canada, wild foods (especially meats) are actually relatively rare in restaurants, due to wildlife conservation rules against selling hunted meat, as well as strict meat inspection rules. Therefore there is a cultural divide between rural and remote communities that rely on wild foods, and urban Canadians (the majority), who have little or no experience with them.^[9]

See also

• Inuit diet
• Native American cuisine
• List of First Nations peoples
• Aboriginal food security in Canada
• Peasant food
• Staple food
• Soul food
• Bush meat (Africa)
• Bushfood (Australia)
• Game (food)

References