Introduction: conceptualising food (in)security in the High North

In recent years, food insecurity has become a crucial issue in the circumpolar Arctic region. An investigation into why this issue has become so prevalent requires the exploration of a wide range of factors that affect the foods and food systems of the region. These factors include both natural phenomena as well as geopolitical, socio-economic, and cultural aspects. Global climate change and its disproportionate impacts on the region contribute to the rapid transformation of the region in terms of its environment, economy and geophysical, political and socio-cultural characteristics. At times, this transformation arguably offers new opportunities in relation to economic globalisation, but it also significantly alters the natural functioning of the region’s ecosystems. The overall implications of climate change place heavy pressure on the areas of environment, land use, and natural resource management. Hence, it also brings about adverse consequences for, among other things, traditional food supply chains, and traditional food systems at large. Moreover, the combined effect of technological advancement and economic globalisation puts pressure on traditional food supplies, especially in the Nordic part of the circumpolar Arctic, given that traditional foods have become relatively less available and that the supply of imported foods is becoming increasingly available in many parts of the region, and especially in its European parts. This situation results in adverse implications on the availability of safe and nutritious foods for many communities in the Arctic.