This project addresses dietary questions raised by native people living in villages throughout Alaska. What are the risks associated with environmental contaminants bio-accumulating in traditional foods, and how do they compare with the health, social, economic, and cultural consequences which could result from a shift to alternative, market-based diets? Many Alaskan Natives obtain the majority of their diet through the harvest of wild foods, foods which are collected from the land and sea near the villages where they live. Often the local economy is similarly driven. Such is the case with the villages of Atka and St. Paul, Aleut villages dependent upon traditional foods collected from the Bering Sea. This project establishes a model for addressing traditional food concerns and demonstrates methods for increasing village-based leadership and cooperation between communities, researchers, and government agencies.
Aim 1. To develop, utilize, and evaluate a model which requires greater community responsibility, involvement, guidance, and participation with researchers and government agencies, and increase community awareness by providing culturally appropriate information and training.
Aim 2. To document the diets of two Alaskan villages including types, quantities, and methods of preparation, for the purpose of guiding contaminant research and providing a model for long-term tracking of traditional and non- traditional food consumption trends.
Aim 3. To collect preliminary data on nutritional value, as well as levels of persistent organics, radionuclides, and heavy metals in subsistence foods for tracking of contaminant trends.
Aim 4. To provide a balanced assessment of both the risks associated with environmental contaminants and the nutritional, cultural, and physical benefits of a traditional native diet.
Aim 5. To develop, utilize, and evaluate a model for combining a variety of village-specific data streams including diet, epidemiological effects, and contaminant levels in animal tissue, human blood, and traditional foods for the purpose of providing a risk/benefit analysis. The five specific aims, will be accomplished in four phases, over a four-year research period. Each phase will be coordinated from the Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association, Inc. (A/PIA), by the principal investigator and supplemented by the support and assistance of local village coordinators, village advisory groups, and a technical team of experts. The project will result in new data which will be compared with existing village data to better understand and communicate the benefits and risks associated with traditional foods.
