EXAMINING FOOD PRESERVATION PARTICIPATION WITHIN INDIGENOUS AND LOCAL FOOD SYSTEMS ON CANADA'S WEST COAST

Research and policy attention in Canada's food-insecure rural and remote areas has focused \non the country’s north, with less known about the challenges that affect remote southern \ncoastal regions. Similarly, programs to improve local food provisioning among adults and \nyouth tend to prioritize food procurement and nutritional education over food preservation, \ndespite the importance of food preservation competencies for maintaining year-round access \nto seasonal food from Indigenous and local food systems (ILFSs). Research is needed to \nbetter understand how diverse residents of coastal communities can benefit from establishing \nfood preservation practices. This dissertation examines food preservation participation in the \nClayoquot Sound Biosphere Region on Canada's west coast, using a qualitative research \ndesign informed by community based participatory research and Indigenous research \npractices and principles. Participatory workshops were used to deliver food preservation \ntraining. Data were gathered using semi-structured interviews, written evaluations of the \nworkshops, and document analysis. The findings are reported across three interconnected \npapers. The first paper presents a joint conceptualization of ILFSs that acknowledges the \nexistence of shared food practices between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in \nlocalized food systems. This contrasts with dominant conceptualizations that consider \nIndigenous food systems and local food systems separately, regardless of contexts. The \nsecond paper uses a social practice framework to show that programs that support food \npreservation competency building, materials provisioning, and continuous participation allow \npeople to make meaning out of such engagement, which is critical for establishing food \npreservation practice in a community. The third paper focuses on the role of youth in ILFSs, \nshowing that young people need to be involved in co-designing food preservation programs if \nsuch initiatives are to meet their needs and interests. These findings demonstrate that the\nvalue of jointly conceptualizing ILFS lies in identifying shared food practices in regions \nwhere Indigenous and settler populations co-exist, which research and policy can prioritize to \nimprove food security. They also show the power of a social practice framework to support\nparticipant-focused assessment of local food preservation programs. Additionally, the \nfindings show that food preservation programs can help youth build food knowledge to \nimprove their food security and support their communities' food sovereignty

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