CANADIANCCPA CENTRE FOR POLICY ALTERNATIVES MANITOBA Harnessing the Potential of Social Enterprise in Garden Hill First Nation By Marina Puzyreva DECEMBERJUNE 20182017 Harnessing the Potential of Social Enterprise in About the Author: Garden Hill First Nation Marina Puzyreva is an economist and Research ---- Associate of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Manitoba. In her past projects she was involved in research with First Nations communities and organizations on the issues of poverty, missing This report is available free of charge from the CCPA and murdered Indigenous women and funding for website at www.policyalternatives.ca. Printed child welfare services. She holds an MA from the copies may be ordered through the Manitoba Office University of Manitoba and a BA from the Higher for a $�� fee. School of Economics (HSE, Moscow). Help us continue to offer our publications free online. Acknowledgements We make most of our publications available free The present research paper would not have been on our website. Making a donation or taking out a possible without the input of many individuals. membership will help us continue to provide people with access to our ideas and research free of charge. A big thank you to: You can make a donation or become a member Dr. John Loxley for the valuable supervisory on-line at www.policyalternatives.ca. Or you can assistance throughout the entire research process. contact the Manitoba office at ���-���-���� for more information. Suggested donation for this All the staff at Aki Energy Inc., particularly Darcy publication: $�� or what you can afford. Wood for introducing to the community and Shaun Loney for useful comments and suggestions. The team of researchers Dr. Shirley Thompson, Tosan Okorosobo and Malay Das from Natural Resource Institute at the University of Manitoba for their help with facilitating the survey distribution and collection and sharing their insights on the community and food insecurity issue. Unit ��� – ��� Main St., Winnipeg, MB R �W �N� ��� ���-���-���� ��� ���-���-���� Many community members, health care ����� [email protected] practitioners, researchers and other individuals who generously shared their knowledge and perspectives: Steve McDougall, Oberon Munroe, Chief Arnold Flett, Larry Wood, Ivan Harper, Lionel Flett, Gloria Munroe, Byron Beardy, Kayla Farquhar, Melody Muswaggon, Derek Reimer, Dr. Sharon Bruce, Dr. Jonathan McGavock, Fishermen of Garden Hill, Members of the Northern Manitoba Food, Culture, and Community Collaborative. The generous support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada through the Manitoba Research Alliance grant: Partnering for Change – Community based solutions for Aboriginal and inner-city poverty (Grant Nº 895-2011-1027, project Nº 790), is gratefully acknowledged. Table of Contents v List of Abbreviations 1 Introduction 3 Historical Background of the Community. Traditional Food Culture 6 Demography and Economy of Garden Hill First Nation Calculating Welfare Amounts Small-Scale Household Survey 16 Health Status of the Community Diabetes: Effective Medical And Lifestyle Interventions Diabetes Statistics And Costs Discussion 24 Food Programs: Addressing Food Insecurity Through the Model of Social Enterprise Food Affordability and Accessibility Education Discussion 33 The Path To The Healthy Living 38 Conclusion 40 References 46 Appendices Appendix A. List of Businesses in Operation Appendix B. Household Survey Questions 48 Endnotes !"#$%&&'$( )!% *+)%$)'", +- &+.'", %$)%#*#'&% '$ ("#/%$ !',, -'#&) $")'+$ iii iv !"#"$%"# !&#'(& )*( +*,%!- ",'&(#"'%.&/ — 0"#%'*1" List of Abbreviations Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative CD Community Development Community Economic Development Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation Garden Hill First Nation Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Northern Healthy Food Initiative National Household Survey Non-Insured Health Benefits .e Northern Manitoba Food, Culture and Community Collaborative Nutrition North Canada Revised Northern Food Basket SE Social Enterprise TD Type Diabetes !"#$%&&'$( )!% *+)%$)'", +- &+.'", %$)%#*#'&% '$ ("#/%$ !',, -'#&) $")'+$ v vi !"#"$%"# !&#'(& )*( +*,%!- ",'&(#"'%.&/ — 0"#%'*1" Introduction .is paper explores the economy, the health sta- (e.g. fries, soda drinks). Since the incomes in the tus, and particularly the issue of food sovereign- community are low, the healthy food options (e.g. ty of Garden Hill First Nation (), a remote fruits, vegetables, meat, milk) become unafford- community located kilometers northeast of able for many residents who instead tend to buy Winnipeg, Manitoba. Similar to many northern cheaper processed and packaged foods, replacing communities, in the history of colonialism, traditional diets with one high in fat, sugar and assimilation and the legacy of residential schools sodium. As a result, a great number of commu- have shaped the egregious conditions of poverty nity members suffer from diabetes, high blood that many on-reserve residents struggle with every pressure and cardiovascular disease. For a long day. ’s formal economy is under-developed time diabetes was considered to be an adult dis- and among many other poverty-related issues the ease, however nowadays it is even diagnosed in residents are confronted with high rates of unem- children, something that was unheard of before ployment, a housing crisis and high food prices. the s in Indigenous communities. Treating Moreover, the loss of culture and often ties with diabetes and its complications and providing family have made it extremely difficult for the social assistance to the unemployed involves new generation to preserve traditional livelihoods significant amounts of government spending that focus on hunting, fishing and gathering, this which only end up maintaining the status quo. way undermining the community’s autonomy in In this situation innovative interventions that providing food to its residents. will guide towards self-sufficiency and that Due to the remoteness of the region, food will positively transform the economy and health items and other necessities are shipped in from of the community are called for. .e new Social the south at high cost. .at cost is passed on to Enterprise (SE) called Meechim Inc. in residents in the local Northern Store which has embraces the concept of Community Economic almost sole control over the provision of food. Development () and seeks to localize the food Prices are high and access is inconvenient as the production to meet the community’s needs by store is located on an island off reserve. .e only way of starting a local farm and engaging com- food available for sale on the reserve is junk food munity resources. .is strategy is believed to plug !"#$%&&'$( )!% *+)%$)'", +- &+.'", %$)%#*#'&% '$ ("#/%$ !',, -'#&) $")'+$ 1 the holes in the ‘leaky bucket’, making sure that Current government expenses on health money spent on meeting people’s needs stays in and social assistance will be used to argue that the community. Moreover, it is believed to help strengthening the community’s sovereignty will create jobs in farming, production, delivery, and result in long-term savings for the government, administration and help manage and reduce dia- provided the funds are directed towards preven- betes rates in the community by increasing access tion programs in a holistic way that acts on the to healthy, fresh, local food (Loney, n.d.). social determinants of health. Although the study .e idea of developing non-market solutions is community specific it echoes many problems for poverty stricken communities in Canada’s common with other northern communities. In North is not new. Some recommendations were the end, it is the hope of this paper to suggest developed but never acted upon, for some pro- some pertinent measures that need to be taken grams the funding was discontinued. In .omp- by government and the initiative promoters in son et al. (), the authors note that “Many order to help maintain the positive momentum people in First Nation communities feel they of the current efforts to localize food production. have been “studied to death.” Researchers have .is paper is produced out of a review of come, gathered data, and never been heard from publicly available statistics on , literature again.” (p. ). Community members are under- on , diabetes, food, and interviews with standably leery of outside researchers. In these key informants that included community mem- circumstances, self-determination and com- bers, health practitioners, diabetes and food in- munity input are needed to ensure that there is security researchers, and specialists involved in sufficient support to implement the projects or healthy food initiatives. Moreover, valuable in- programs after the initial enthusiasm subsides sights have been incorporated from the group (Loxley, Silver, & Sexsmith, ). conversations with the project funders from .e In this paper the economic and health pro- Northern Manitoba Food, Culture and Com- file of the community, including the amount of munity Collaborative (). A survey of government spending on diabetes and welfare individual households was conducted in De- will be presented. By putting Meechim Inc. in cember and is also included in the study. the context of the community’s economic and .e survey distribution and collection was fa- health problems and needs, the SE’s goals (re- cilitated with the help of Dr. Shirley .omp- duce diabetes, create more jobs) will be assessed. son and student researcher Malay Das