This study departs from the notion that permaculture is a method for implementing systemic change, with the objective of curbing the negative trends associated with industrial food production on a local level. Thereafter, the city of Uppsala, Sweden is examined in order to determine the opportunities and constraints in establishing and supporting a public permaculture park. This is accomplished by identifying to what extent permaculture currently is being used in Uppsala. In addition, the municipality’s priorities and vision for the future of the city, as well as their policies and goals concerning the use and development of public green spaces, are examined. Furthermore, the ways in which the city‘s legislation facilitates and/or hinders such a project and the start-up and continuation costs of such a project in the short term are determined. These factors are then used to examine two case studies, which were conducted on potential locations for such an initiative. Upon analysis it is determined that creating a public permaculture park in Uppsala is feasible, though obstacles exist. The study also provides suggestions for improving existing infrastructural hurdles in order to facilitate implementation.

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The Inuit have experienced significant cultural changes since initial contact with European settlers and explorers in the 17th Century, changes that accelerated in the mid- 20th century. Basing their relationships to the Inuit in imperialism (the policy and practice of empire expansion), Europeans used political, economic and cultural tactics to swiftly establish a cultural hierarchy and solidify the Inuit’s position as ‘The Other’ – an ‘out-group’ viewed as inherently inferior to the ‘in-group’. The Arctic has remained hierarchized because of implicit settler colonial processes that permeate political and cultural relations and underpin modern policy development. An examination of the nutrition transition – the shift away from traditional foods to commercialized market options – brings these implicit settler colonial processes into focus. The transition to a Western diet has accompanied chronic poverty and provoked high levels of food insecurity, resulting in numerous negative health outcomes among Inuit. Current health promotion initiatives employ an ineffective downstream approach to reduce Nunavut food insecurity – which is approximately three times greater than the Canadian average – when the issue is a result of rampant poverty. Disproportionately high rates of food insecurity are a manifestation of settler colonialism and fuel a covertly racist national attitude toward the Inuit, maintaining their marginalized position. This study examines national coverage of Nunavut food insecurity as presented in two of Canada’s most widely read newspapers: The Globe and Mail and National Post. A critical discourse analysis (CDA) was employed to analyze 24 articles, 19 from The Globe and Mail and 5 from National Post. Analysis suggests national print media propagates the Inuit’s position as The Other by selectively reporting on social issues such as hunger, poverty and income. Terms such as “Northerners” and “Southerners” are frequently used to categorically separate Nunavut from the rest of Canada and Inuit-driven efforts to resolve their own issues are widely ignored. This effectively portrays the Inuit as helpless and the territory as a failure, and allows Canadians to maintain colonialist views of Inuit inferiority and erroneously assume Federal initiatives effectively address Northern food insecurity. / Thesis (Master, Kinesiology & Health Studies) -- Queen's University, 2014-02-27 10:52:16.947

This research focuses on the work of the Urban Aboriginal Community Kitchen Garden Project (the Garden Project). The Garden Project aims to be a culturally appropriate health promotion project with urban Aboriginal people, drawing on traditional Indigenous approaches to health and healing, and rooted in community food work. The project is situated within the context of colonialism, the destruction of traditional foodways, and subsequent increased need for Indigenous people to rely on a dominant food system that is seen as destructive to human and ecological health. The purpose of my research is to describe the Garden Project’s main goals and achievements from the perspective of project leaders, project participants as well as through my own observations and experiences. The research methodology was guided by participatory and community based approaches to research and qualitative methods were employed, focusing primarily on semi-structured interviews with project participants and project leaders. I also participated in and observed the project for two years, from September 2006-September 2008. Data collection and analysis happened through an iterative process of action and reflection. Based on my time with the Garden Project, I suggest that it can be seen simultaneously as a community food security, health promotion, and Indigenous health project. It connects participants with food as a natural product, builds skills around cooking and growing food, and increases knowledge about food system issues. Drawing on the health promotion discourse, it can be seen building community and social support networks, treating the whole person, and empowering participants to take actions around their own health needs. It is rooted in Indigenous approaches to health and healing in the way it promotes individuals’ physical, mental/emotional and spiritual health, the health of the community through cultural revitalization, and the health of the Universe through the opportunity it provides for awareness about ecosystem health. This research project was very site specific. Nevertheless, the findings suggest that food work with urban Indigenous people, carried out in a culturally sensitive manner, may be a powerful leverage point for promoting health with this population. These types of projects can also be vehicles for social change.

Changing environments are challenging access to wild foods; resources, which are valued by Inuit for health benefits, often surpass that of available market foods. Community freezer initiatives are gaining popularity as one option to help support wild food access, and thus food security, in northern Canada. Little information exists, however, about how these initiatives help facilitate wild food access for residents. A case study was undertaken in Nain, Nunatsiavut to understand: (1) how the Nain community freezer influences access to wild foods; and (2) key factors that community freezer management could consider to better support food security in their communities. Results indicate characteristics of the socio-cultural, economic, and natural environment are challenging wild food access for Nain community freezer users. Factors for consideration in future management include: issues of supply, dependency, social exclusion, and tensions between the feasibility of operations and the representation of traditional values.

The current food system relies on global industrial agriculture and undermines food security partly by destroying the economic underpinnings of a localised food system. The potential efficiency of ecologically-integrated local agriculture addresses the economic and environmental implications of climate change associated with the food chain. The purpose of this study was to examine and compare existing North American models of commercially successful UA from northern climates and to create sample designs of an urban agricultural (UA) enterprise for sites in Guelph, Ontario. A case study approach and literature review was used to elicit key components of successful UA. Results indicate that profitable small scale, ecologically integrated agri-enterprises require a high degree of technical and business skills. Two site-specific designs provide examples of how a commercial urban farm can be incorporated into the city matrix of Guelph, Ontario. / Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE)

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<p>For close to a decade, Zimbabwe has experienced a protracted socio-economic crisis. Although it is affecting both rural and urban areas, major forms of formal safety nets by the Government and Non-Governmental Organisations have been confined to rural areas. On the other hand the virtual collapse of the formal food marketing system in urban areas and the high formal unemployment rates have contributed to increased vulnerability of low income urban households to food insecurity. Using qualitative research methods, the study set out to understand livelihoods of low income urban households in Dzivaresekwa. In particular strategies low income households employ to cope with the negative macro-economic environment prevailing in Zimbabwe.</p>