Building food security in the Canadian Arctic through the development of sustainable community greenhouses and gardening

Disruptions in the way of life of indigenous peoples from the Far North have greatly affected their ability to meet their food needs. The implementation of community greenhouse and gardening projects is one of the initiatives taken to address this issue in Nunavik. Through a mixed-method approach, we analyze social benefits and challenges, as well as the potential food productivity and nutritional contributions of these projects. We discuss the potential of current greenhouse energy optimization scenarios and we address the benefits of Kuujjuaq's greenhouse in terms of carbon dioxide mitigation. Discussions with the local stakeholders highlighted technical challenges regarding the energy supply, its efficient management and the supply of soil in sufficient quantities. Our results highlight the interconnectedness and complexity of food and energy systems in Nunavik. They show that the establishment of local fresh food production corresponds to a need expressed by the residents and could bypass some of the difficulties associated with the conveyance and freshness of food sold at the supermarket. They also indicate that the implementation of such production poses many challenges that require taking into account the geographical isolation, the arctic climate and the availability of local resources.