Rivers of Plenty: Enabling Heart Healthy Eating in James and Hudson’s Bay

Drs. Angela Mashford-Pringle and Sahr Wali are working with Kashechewan, Moose Factory, Weenusk First Nations and Weeneebayko Area Health Authority to increase awareness and access to nutritious and healthy foods to improve First Nations health and well-being. The First Nations communities in James and Hudson’s Bay (JHB) rely on traditional knowledges and practices but with the changing climate and environment, it has restricted traditional farming, foraging, and hunting practices. This has made people more reliant on market foods, which are flown in at great cost and often are not as fresh or available. This has resulted in leading to or worsening existing cardiovascular and other health issues.

The partners have outlined two goals: 1) improve awareness of and access to heart healthy, culturally appropriate foods through community based, co-developed programming, and 2) grow a First Nations-led health coalition to address food security, sovereignty and access in JHB. This builds upon an ongoing, broad-based advocacy that occurs for northern food system reform.

The project has just begun in August 2024. In collaboration with the First Nations communities, we are determining project activities, knowledge dissemination and how this can build upon other work being done by our partner, Peter Munk Cardiac Centre.

We will post updates here.