First Nations Food, Nutrition & Environment Study

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

Results for BC are now available in the Document Download Section

Is your community participating in the FNFNES?  Find out what's going to happen next through our Regional Timelines.

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