Harriet V. Kuhnlein to Serve as Expert Panel Chair on the State of Knowledge of Food Security in Northern Canada

The Council is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Harriet Kuhnlein as Chair of the Expert Panel on the State of Knowledge of Food Security in Northern Canada.  In late 2011, Health Canada requested that the Council conduct an in-depth, evidence-based assessment on the current factors influencing food security in the Canadian North.As Chair of the Council’s Expert Panel, Dr. Kuhnlein will work with a multidisciplinary group of experts, to be appointed by the Council, to address the following question: What is the state of knowledge of the factors influencing food security in the Canadian North, and of the health implications of food insecurity for Northern Aboriginal populations?

Dr. Kuhnlein is Professor Emerita of Human Nutrition at McGill University, and Founding Director of the Centre for Indigenous Peoples’ Nutrition and Environment (CINE), she will bring a wealth of expertise to the Council and to this assessment. Dr. Kuhnlein has served as a member of the Advisory Board for CIHR – Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes, and with the Executive of the Canadian Coalition of Global Health Research. She chairs the Task Force on Traditional, Indigenous and Cultural Food and Nutrition of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences.

The Council, under the guidance of its Scientific Advisory Committee, is assembling an expert panel to complete this assessment. The panel will consist of experts from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds to ensure the most authoritative, credible, and independent response to the question.

For continued updates on the status of the assessment visit the State of Knowledge of Food Security in Northern Canada page.