Country: Canada
Kristen Lowitt is Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Environment at Mount Allison University. Her research explores the impacts of environmental, economic, and social change on the food security of rural and coastal regions. This research asks how the food systems of coastal and rural regions are being transformed and how communities are responding to these changes. She is passionate in undertaking research that builds community capacity to engage in food systems policy, and has led community-based food systems projects in rural, coastal and Indigenous contexts in North America and internationally
Q: 1. What are you currently working on within the context of SSF?
KL: My research in the area of SSF currently focuses on the idea of “fish as food.” I’m interested in how thinking about fisheries as a part of larger food systems can help challenge prevailing management perspectives that treat fish primarily as a commodity or natural resource. I believe that understanding fisheries connection to food systems may contribute to more inclusive governance approaches while also raising awareness of fisheries contributions to nutrition, culture, and livelihoods in particular settings. My present research is focusing mainly on the Great Lakes region of Canada and the U.S., where I’m establishing new partnerships with both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities to explore these complex relationships surrounding fish as food.
Q: If you could single out one or two most significant factors for securing sustainability of SSF, what would these factors be?
KL: Recognizing the interdependencies among fisheries and other systems, I think more integrated policy making that connects fisheries with other sectors such as food, health, trade, and environment is essential to the future sustainability of SSF. Also critical is greater inclusion of Indigenous knowledge and fishers’ ecological knowledge alongside scientific knowledge in fisheries governance.
