Hunted, Harvested and Homegrown: The Prevalence of Self-provisioning in Rural Canada

Abstract

This research examines self-provisioning activities in rural Canada and describes their prevalence both in terms of participation and the degree to which they make material contributions to households. Self-provisioning is correlated with a number of household characteristics, such as employment, income, and length of residency. Results show that self-provisioning activities are still common in rural Canada, particularly those requiring low capital investments such as gardening and wildcrafting. However the analysis reveals weak associations between socio-economic variables and self-provisioning, providing further evidence that, in aggregate, rural households have complex motivations for participating in self-provisioning activities and that economic need is not always the main driver. The data demonstrate a low level of participation amongst the very poorest households, implying structural barriers to participation for some of these activitie