Welcome to the First Nations Food Nutrition and Environment (FNFNES) Website
Over the past 40 years, Canada has conducted Health and Nutrition Surveys and Total Diet Studies among the general Canadian population to understand changes in diets and to assess the environmental safety of store-bought foods. To date, First Nations people living on-reserve have not been included.
A number of studies in First Nation communities have helped us to understand which foods are commonly eaten however, existing research has not succeeded in providing reliable national and regional information on First Nations diets and food–related exposures to environmental hazards.
Using an ecozone sampling framework, the FNFNES aims to gather information with 100 randomly selected First Nation communities across Canada about :
- Current traditional and store bought food use
- Food security
- Test many traditional foods for nutrient values and environmental chemical hazards.
- Test drinking water for heavy metals and surface water for pharmaceutical metabolites
Survey
Surface water and tap water will be sampled for pharmaceuticals and trace metals
Food sampling will be collected based on information collected from dietary questionnaires
Hair will be collected from participants, packaged, stapled in a plastic bag, and sent for laboratory analysis for mercury (Total and MeHg)
Household interviews include food frequency and food security questionnaires, 24-hr diet recall, and social/health/lifestyle questionnaires