title: Country food sharing networks, household structure, and implications for understanding food insecurity in Arctic Canada.
abstract: We examine the cultural context of food insecurity among Inuit in Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Canada. An analysis of the social network of country food exchanges among 122 households in the settlement reveals that a household's betweenness centrality-a measure of brokerage-in the country food network is predicted by the age of the household. The households of married couples were better positioned within the sharing network than were the households of single females or single males. Households with an active hunter or elder were also better positioned in the network. The households of single men and women appear to experience limited access to country food, a considerable problem given the increasing number of single-adult households over time. We conclude that the differences between how single women and single men experience constrained access to country foods may partially account for previous findings that single women in arctic settlements appear to be at particular risk for food insecurity.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Anthropology , University of Florida , Florida , USA.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Collings
authors.affiliation: a Department of Anthropology , University of Florida , Florida , USA.
authors.forename: Meredith G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Marten
authors.affiliation: b University of the Sunshine Coast , Sippy Downs , Australia.
authors.forename: Tristan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pearce
authors.affiliation: c Department of Anthropology , University of Florida , Florida , USA.
authors.forename: Alyson G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Young
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D001110:Arctic Regions; D002170:Canada; D002648:Child; D003469:Culture; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005523:Food Supply; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D012737:Sex Factors; D012944:Social Support
keywords: Food security; Inuit; food sharing; industrial foods; traditional foods