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Case Study: Food production techniques in an extreme environment, the…
Case Study: Food production techniques in an extreme environment, the Arctic
Food production methods used by Indigenous people #
Wakeham Bay, Quebec, northern Canada
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- In spring, the tide changes 2 times a day
- As the tide goes out, the sea levels falls and the sea ice covering it drops down
- Where the ice touches the sea bed, caves are created where ice blocks lean together
- Mussels are harvested here
- They provide a rich source of minerals and vitamins
Qaanaaq, northern Greenland
Inuit people are traditional hunters of marine mammals, such as narwhal, a type of whale which provides a rich source of vitamin C
- In the summer, the hunters camp on the edge of the sea ice and travel in kayaks between the fragments of ice blocks to catch their prey using handmade harpoons
- The skin of narwhals, maktaaq, contains more vitamin C than oranges
Barrow, Alaska
- Whale meat is consumed about twice a week
- Whale oil is added to other food sources like Caribou
- Traditionally, the meat is prepared and distributed when the boats come ashore and is kept in caves dug in the permafrost
Inupiat people hunt bowhead whales, which pass the coast twiice a year
Threats to food security
Climate Change
Hunting Terrain
- Slushy ice doesn't give a firm base to hunt and retrieve seals and whales
- Travel routes are longer, more dangerous and unpredictable
Decreasing ice
- Forces species like polar bears and walrus onto land
- Herding activities are delayed as the lakes they cross are not freezing over
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Warming of the Arctic
- Grazing animals, like reindeer and Peary caribou have decreased as an earlier spring means that calves are born past the peak of prime foliage availability, so many don't survive
- Woody shrubs are expanding at the expense of lichens and other caribou food sources
- More 'southerly' animals like deer are moving north and bringing diseases like meningeal brain worm, which is lethal to caribou
There is a low species diversity and delicate food webs which makes the ecosystem very vulnerable to change
- The Arctic covers 14.5km²
- Some parts are covered in ice sheets, e.g. the majority of Greenland; others are tundra e.g. northern Alaska
- Thick ice and snow cover, bitter cold and frequent storms
- Summers can have periods of continuous daylight (due to the tilt of the Earth) but the low angle of the sun means that temperatures don't rise much above freezing
- Short growing season in summer (6-8wks)
Arctic Tundra
- Low organic productivity
- NPP of 140g/m²/yr
- Low moisture (as much of it is stored as ice) for most of the year so plants must be adapted to moisture-deficient conditions
- Plants are compact, low and slow growing as they have adapted to the high winds and limited growing season
- Plants have short roots to avoid the permafrost and use the short summer thaw
- There are mainly low shrubs, lichens and mosses
- The lack of nitrogen-fixing plants limits fertility
- The cold, wet conditions inhibit decomposition of plant material
There is a 'hunting, herding, fishing and gathering' culture of food production
# Impact on diet of indigenous people
- Problems with availability of food, increasing pollution and contamination are leading them to belief that the safety and quality of their 'wild resources' are in decline
- Contaminents are showing up in animals, fish and water in the Arctic
- People are turning to alternative store-bought foods
- This brings social problems like malnutrition, obesity, health issues and economic problems
- The food prices are high due to remoteness but there are low budgets due to low incomes and restricted job opportunites
- The foods are often high in salt, sugar and unhealthy fats are leading to a decline in general health
- 30% of Inuit children suffer malnutrition
- In 2012, 65% of adults in Alaska where classed overweight or obese