North

4 northerners named to Nutrition North advisory board — including 3 Inuit women

The four new additions will be giving advice on the Nutrition North program, which is meant to make nutritious food and some other essential items more affordable in the North. 

Nutrition North meant to improve access to healthy, affordable food

A young woman with long dark hair and earrings is seen in a close up photo
Beth Kotierk is one of four new members serving on the Nutrition North Canada Advisory Board. (Qajuqturvik Community Food Centre/Facebook)

Northern Affairs Minister Daniel Vandal has announced four new appointments to the Nutrition North advisory board — all of whom are northerners, and three of whom are Inuit women. 

Brenda Jancke, Beth Kotierk, Janice Grey-Scott and Dr. Sarah Jane Cook will all join the seven-person board.

Their job will be to give advice on the Nutrition North program, which is meant to make nutritious food and some other essential items more available and affordable in the North. 

"Through hard work and strong support from partners, the program continues to improve with locally led solutions for Northerners, by Northerners," said Vandal in a press release announcing the appointments.  

The new board members come from a variety of backgrounds. Beth Kotierk is a civil lawyer in Iqaluit, as well as vice president of the Qajuqturvik Community Food Centre.

Brenda Jancke lives in Cambridge Bay, where she is a regional director for the Department of Family Services.

Brenda Jancke, regional director for the Department of Family Services, is shown here taking a photograph in Cambridge Bay in 2017. (Kate Kyle/CBC)

Janice Grey-Scott is a harvester who has worked for the Aupaluk Cooperative Association in Nunavik.

And Yellowknifer Dr. Sarah Cook previously served as Territorial Medical Director of the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority.

Nutrition North contains several programs, including one that subsidizes expensive food items, one that provides grants to traditional harvesters, and a nutrition education program.