Applications for Northern Health and First Nations Health Authority Indigenous food security grants are now being accepted. 

Each year, Indigenous communities in northern B.C. can benefit from six grants worth $50,000 each.

鈥淭he grant program is part of a larger effort by the provincial government and regional health authorities to strengthen food security and Indigenous food sovereignty in rural and remote communities in northern B.C.,鈥� said Northern Health. 

The year鈥檚 application intake will close on Nov. 30. The focus will be on analyzing locally led initiatives that aim to revitalize and strengthen Indigenous food ways. They must assist communities in planning, starting, running, or evaluating programs and services that support food security and Indigenous food autonomy and foster connections among people and communities.

A 2023 study by the University of Toronto found that Indigenous people, especially those in rural and remote Northern communities, face higher rates of moderate to severe food insecurity, partly due to high food costs.

Statistics Canada reported families with an Indigenous major income earner living off reserve were nearly twice as likely to experience food insecurity (34 per cent) compared to those with a non-Indigenous major income earner (18 per cent).

According to the National Library of Medicine, almost half of on-reserve First Nations households were food insecure, especially in western Canada.

The Parliament of Canada cites several factors for high food insecurity among northern and Indigenous populations, including community isolation, financial hardship, socioeconomic inequities, colonial legacies, environmental dispossession and contamination and climate change. 

Northern Health encourages various organizations, including First Nations Bands, health centres, M茅tis societies, Indigenous organizations, not-for-profit organizations, municipalities, regional districts, and community service agencies, to apply for the $50,000 Food Action Grant.

This opportunity has funded vital initiatives in the past, such as The Tea Creek project in Kitwanga, Gitxsan Territory, which expanded its outdoor kitchen and farm equipment inventory.

Takla Nation, located 400 km north of Prince George, hired a food security worker and upgraded their smokehouse and community garden.

The Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition launched the Tree-Generative Poultry Project, while the Nisga鈥檃 Valley Health Authority focused on traditional foods and community food education.

Also, the Witset First Nation, located 30 km west of Smithers developed a community food security plan, promoting self-sufficiency and access to healthy food.