1. OBJECTIVES This study asked if in the past 12 months:  Did household members worry that food would run out before they got money to buy more (Household Food Security Survey)?  Could the household members afford to eat balanced meals?  What were the barriers to eating healthy in your community?  What does your community need to improve access to healthy food? METHODS A door to door household food security survey and interviews of 11 of 14 households was conducted in 2009 by Vanessa Lozecznik. The people interviewed ranged from 18 to 70 years old. The survey findings were analyzed using Excel. Open- ended qualitative interviews were conducted in order to get a holistic understanding of the problem and the solutions. Participatory video was used to document your stories. SUMMARY OF SURVEY RESULTS  Many people are worried they’ll run out of money for food and won’t have enough food to eat.  50% of the people surveyed sometimes ran out of food.  40% of families sometimes relied on a few low-cost food items to feed their children.  People stated that travel for food was a great hardship and very expensive.  86% of community households thought access to fresh food was one of the biggest barriers they had to eating healthy.  20% of community households thought the problem of eating healthy in Ilford was due to a lack of education in recognizing what healthy food means.  20% of community households thought the dramatic loss of elders ended the transfer of knowledge about how to hunt, trap and fish. Today, people are disconnected from those practices.  $250 for travelling for food means people cannot go to get groceries. BACKGROUND Ilford, like other northern Manitoba Communities, is concerned about the high cost of and lack of access to healthy food. This matter has translated to health problems such as diabetes and obesity. This study shows that people living in the north have problems getting the proper nutrition because they have limited access to healthy food, such as fresh vegetables, fruits and dairy products. PROGRAMS AND CONTACTS Programs are by request, to help actions in communities. Contact for help and supplies: 1. Northern Healthy Food Initiative (NHFI), Manitoba Government, funds groups like, the Bayline Regional Roundtable (BRRT), Four Arrows Regional Health Authority and Manitoba Food Matters to increase access to healthy food and to support food projects. Contacts: Jennell Majeran, Manager (204-677-6677, Jennell.Majeran@gov.mb.ca) and Jessica Paley (204-945-0569, Jessica.Paley@gov.mb.ca). Programs in other communities include: chicken, turkey (with chicks and feed provided but not coop), goat and other small livestock production, freezer loans for people to buy freezers to store healthy food, community or school greenhouse and households receiving plastic for building a greenhouse, provision of vegetable seeds, berry and other bedding plants, and grow lights for schools, and an annual workshop in Thompson called the Northern Harvest Forum to provide free teaching to northern community members about food production and preservation. 2. Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives (MAFRI) provides gardening support to communities and gives workshops on gardening and chicken production. Contact: Brian Hunt (204-856-9255, Fax: 204-745-5690, brian.hunt@gov.mb.ca) 3. Frontier School Division provides Veggie Adventure school activities and greenhouse and gardening expertise for northern climates. Contact: Chuck Stensgard (204-473-2332, chuckstensgard@hotmail.com). 4. Chronic Disease Prevention Initiative (CDPI) provides some funding for traditional activities, gardening and healthy snacks. Contact: Robert Flett, St. Theresa Point Health Authority (204-462-2693). 5. Bayline Regional Round Table (BRRT) provides freezer loans, assists with chicken production (providing chickens and their feed), provides garden materials (seeds and fencing), loans (gardening tools and rototillors) and has a gardening champion in each community. Contact: Valerie Parker in Wabowden (204-689-2063, Fax: 204-689-2355, cedo689@hotmail.com) and in Ilford (204-57-2179). 6. Burntwood Regional Health Authority provides community visits of dietitians to teach community people, particularly pregnant women and diabetes patients, about healthy diets and how to cook healthy meals. Contact: (204-677- 5350). 7. Apply for Green Team, a 100% government funded program that employs youth to start community gardens, market gardens or help with household gardening. Fill out the application form at: http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/youth/employers/hometown.html. 8. Visit “Growing Hope in Northern Manitoba” video at: http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~thompso4/Movie.html. FINDINGS Ilford, as in many of other communities located along the Bay Line, has only a winter road and in the other seasons it relies on the train to access fresh food. The barriers to getting healthy food are many. For example, the train has an unreliable schedule. In addition, when the community members travel to Thompson to shop for groceries they also need to pay for hotel and transportation. The total cost to access food is around $250 without including the groceries. For that reason, community members of Ilford shopped only once per month. The community has no stores from which to get the basic groceries. The only foods available in the community are soft drinks and chips. Reliance on these junk foods have been increasing the cases of diabetes among the younger population. Approximately 80% of the people commented that with better access to food and educative programs that encourage healthy eating, they can fight diabetes and promote healthy living. Figure 2. Households worried money would run out (blue), money did run out (yellow), and they couldn’t afford healthy foods (green). Figure 3. Households with children relied on low-cost food (blue), couldn’t afford healthy foods (yellow), and weren’t able to eat enough (green). Of the households interviewed, 15% did not have children under 18 years. Figure 4. Households where adults cut or skipped meals (blue), didn’t eat enough in anticipation of shortage (yellow), didn’t eat for a whole day (green), were hungry (purple) and lost weight (orange). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research Regional Partnerships Program (CIHR-RPP). We thank the community of Ilford and we extend special thanks to the health center for its hospitality and to the elders and children for their company, stories and help. Figure 1. People surveyed said that in order to eat healthier their community needs a food store, transportation, gardening, fresh vegetables, and larger freezers. An Ilford resident said, “In the past we could do the shopping in one day. We took the train in the morning and we could come back in the afternoon that way we didn’t spend a big portion of our money on hotels, transportation, meals, etc… Today, it is too expensive to shop”. “Our Children are really active; we are trying to teach them healthy living.” In 50% of households children did not have enough food. Of the 11 households interviewed, 30% sometimes skipped meals. An elder from Iflord said, “The young generations do not have the knowledge. We need someone to teach them how to garden”. The most basic groceries, such as bread and sugar, are not available in Ilford. They’re available at the cost of $250 and a three day trip to Thompson. 50% sometimes worried money would run out before getting more money to buy food. No Store, No Commuter Train and No Jobs = A Hard Time Putting Healthy Food on the Table in Ilford Vanessa Lozecznik, Mariah Mailman and Shirley Thompson Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba s_thompson@cc.umanitoba.ca