Kalaallit Food Systems While Food Secure Are Vulnerable To Social-Economic-Environmental Stressors: A Case Study From Qeqertarsuaq

This poster presents results from an exploratory study of food security in the municipality of Qeqertarsuaq, Greenland, characterizing the vulnerability of the food system to stressors associated with climate and climate change in the context of changing livelihoods. The ability of community members to access culturally relevant foods of sufficient quantity and quality is discussed within a historic context of social, cultural, economic, institutional and environmental change in Greenland. Approximately 8% of Qeqertarsuaq residents were classified as food insecure in this study. While food security levels may be high in Qeqertarsuaq, the ability to obtain culturally (and nutritionally) important Greenlandic foods among women, Elders and non-hunters is limited. The Qeqertarsuaq food system is particularly sensitive to climate variability and change through the dependence of many residents on subsistence livelihoods and the isolated location of the community, leading to often unpredictable store food shipments. Recent warming has been linked to a reduction in sea ice extent with noticeable changes in the availability of seal and eider duck populations. As Greenlandic food security is contingent upon access to these highly valued foods, further research is needed to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the current and future vulnerability of Greenlandic food systems to climate change. These developments are necessary to help achieve community food security in small, mixed subsistence-cash economies in Greenland and across the Circumpolar North.