Field Research of Food Security in Yakutia

The article systematizes field materials collected in Yakutsk and the Khangalassky District of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in April–May 2023. The main goal of the fieldwork was to collect information reflecting the obtaining of food resources by residents of urban areas, as well as people living in rural areas in the vicinity of Yakutsk (using the example of the village of Oy, Khangalassky District). The methods used were observation and interviews with representatives of different communities: Yukaghirs, Evens, Yakuts (28 people in total). The material is grouped into three sections: a) markets of Yakutsk, b) gastronomic connection between urban and rural space, and c) the village of Oy. This structure gives the opportunity to reveal aspects of food security of Yakutsk residents both at the level of individuals and at the level of trade enterprises. A characteristic feature of both parameters is their close connection with the non-urban territories of Yakutia, which act as sources of supply of gastronomic resources to Yakutsk. The materials collected in Oy demonstrate the strong influence of the close location of Yakutsk on the economic practices of local residents. Nevertheless, “traditional” economic forms, which act as important sources of food resources, are preserved in the village. These forms are not frozen: they are capable of absorbing and processing modern technologies (telephones, computers, the Internet), materials, economic and legal phenomena of the modernity, demonstrating mobility and flexibility

Food insecurity · Food security · Food supply · Supply and demand · Arctic and Russian Policy Studies · Indigenous Studies and Ecology · Regional Socio-Economic Development Trends