Question

Under the treaties, our government is responsible for ensuring the well-being of Canadians living on reserves. However, the cost of food on several reserves does not lead to a healthy life. The task is to try to put together sustainable solutions (2 or 3), preferably solutions that empower communities, without continually throwing public money at the problem.

Answer 1

Answer: Cold Growing Green houses, and helping keep culture.

Explanation:

A 1,300-square foot polycarbonate dome (fancy way of saying greenhouse) with a large tank of water on the north side that acts as a thermal mass, helping keep the internal temperature between 20 and 25 degrees Celsius. Water itself is trucked in from nearby freshwater lakes, though they save about 20 times more water than with traditional methods by using a feedback loop system. It can withstand winds of up to 170 km/h and seven feet of direct snow, and by using raised soil beds and 1.5-metre-tall vertical hydroponic towers to grow a wide range of leafy greens — kale, spinach, lettuce, chard — and other veggies like carrots, turnips, potatoes, beans, beets, radishes and cauliflower. It all gets sold at farmers’ markets and to a food bank at about half the cost of what’s available at local stores.

By keeping culture alive I mean putting in place traditional ways of meat gathering, however I lived up north for a bit and that's not a huge problem as they weren't as touched by residential schools. Not saying they weren't just not as much so a lot of people still whale, hunt caribou, geese, and goose eggs.