Food Security and Lactic Bacteria Use in Alaska and the Bering Strait Region

University Of Alaska Fairbanks Campus, Fairbanks AK

Investigators

Abstract

This project examines traditional methods of processing and preserving Arctic subsistence food products through the means of aging and fermentation. In collaboration with resident experts of the Bering Strait region, the project team will conduct ethnographic fieldwork and develop a systemic framework for understanding the role of fermentation in Arctic societies and the multiple factors that affect the methods and processes of fermentation. Among those factors are interactions of the built environment and physical geography, household dynamics, and generational perspectives on diet and health. The intellectual merit of the project involves utilizing the novel approach of exploring fermentation as a domain of local ecological knowledge. The project will advance research on the relationships between Arctic food preparation practices, public health, housing, and social/environmental conditions. This study will contribute to the momentum of the emergent interest in infrastructure within Arctic scholarship and across several fields of engineering and science. Broader impacts include student training and public outreach, and insights that may inform the development of architectural designs, construction materials, and community planning that function in greater cohesion with the cultural needs of the Arctic societies.