Community food security in Pictou Landing First Nation

Abstract

In 2013 a participatory research project explored food security in Pictou Landing First Nation, a Mi'kmaq community geographically located in Canadian province of Nova Scotia. The project used photovoice-a qualitative research method that collects photographic data along with oral information from project participants. The findings revealed that pollution and ecological changes around Pictou Landing First Nation were the most significant community challenge to eating well. Community members shared photographs and stories to describe their experiences with food and point to their key concerns, which also included physical and economic access to healthy food. Participants also commented on a number of great assets in the community, such as the recent development of community gardens and the knowledge of traditional foods that still exists in the community. This chapter offers reflections on the project's findings and on the use of photovoice to examine social dimensions of food systems. The chapter also considers the larger implications of these findings to the issues of Indigenous community food security, cultural safety, and ecological consequences of industrialization.