Food Sharing in Siberia: Social Network Analyses Using Frequencies of Transfers Versus Nutritional Values and Quantities Shared

Informal household networks are utilized for tundra foods distribution in Ust’-Avam, Taimyr Region, Russia. Most families in Ust’-Avam rely upon subsistence for their livelihood, chiefly hunting, fishing and trapping. Variation in household ability and household interest in subsistence activities create inequalities in local food production. To adapt to subsistence challenges, food exchanges occur between kin and neighbors, thereby redistributing foods and decreasing food inequalities between households. These exchanges are vital to buffer consumption risk, especially in particularly vulnerable households. A focal sample of ten women in the community provides the core of a food sharing network of 51 households. The food transfers are portions of meat and fish transferred to the women from primary procurers or their intermediaries, as well as the women’s sharing of these foods to additional households. Using the results of social network analysis, we consider the frequencies of these transfers, and the quantity and nutritional content (total calories, protein and fat content values) and calculated monetary valuations of exchanged items. In considering who gives what to whom, this research provides yet another opportunity to examine relevant variables and their effects within the widely debated explanatory hypotheses of food sharing