ИСТИНА

The problem of food security in the Arctic zone is related to many social, economic and environmental issues such as low population density, traditional lifestyle of indigenous population, limited transport infrastructure, high cost of food, influence of climate change and transformation of traditional landscapes. The Russian Arctic is a sparsely populated but highly urbanized area where more than 90% of people live in cities. Despite many publications concerning Arctic food security, none has ever studied its urban aspect. Meanwhile, cities in the Russian Artic are the focus of life and economy and they are growing at the interface of tradition and innovation. On the first year of research, author collected statistics on 20 Arctic cities and divided them into 3 types with high, medium and low agricultural production per capita. Spatial analysis allowed to give a comprehensive characteristic of these types and confirmed that cities within each type have same problems though not necessarily locate within one federal subject. Nevertheless, the quantitative study couldn't provide complete characteristics of the Arctic food security, because it doesn't show what products people prefer, where/how do they get it, whether they are affordable and accessible, etc. Another important issue includes the traditional diet of indigenous peoples and its transformation over time due to the climate change and ongoing assimilation. Thus, there came a need in direct population surveys and it was decided to conduct them in the cities of Chukotka Autonomous Area included in the first type with maximum agricultural production per capita. They are the most remoted ones in the Russian Artic and there is still high percent of people involved in traditional activities. Author elaborated a questionnaire to find out what role traditional food (reindeer meat, fish, wild plants) and small-scale local production play in the food security of Russian Arctic cities. It also addresses the following questions: how did the role of traditional food change during last years? What is the impact of climate change on the local production and how does it transform the feeding landscape? The results will help to assess the potential of traditional food and so-called 'hidden harvests' in the Arctic food security. The reported study was funded by RFBR according to the research project № 18-05-60088 'Urban Arctic resilience in the context of climate change and socio-economic transformations'.