{"id":1595188,"date":"2022-08-08T17:39:03","date_gmt":"2022-08-08T21:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1595188"},"modified":"2022-08-08T17:39:20","modified_gmt":"2022-08-08T21:39:20","slug":"cold-and-hungry-food-inflation-bites-canadas-north","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cold-and-hungry-food-inflation-bites-canadas-north\/","title":{"rendered":"Cold and hungry: Food inflation bites Canada\u2019s north"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcold-and-hungry-food-inflation-bites-canadas-north%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1595188&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>By Rod Nickel<\/p>\n<p>IQALUIT, Nunavut (Reuters) \u2013     In Canada\u2019s remote north, residents have long paid dearly for food, and rising prices have worsened an already dire situation, exposing the vulnerability of one of the world\u2019s biggest exporters of grains and meat.<\/p>\n<p>Communities in Nunavut \u2014 the largest of the three territories that make up Canada\u2019s northernmost region \u2014 have no roads to connect them with each other, forcing them to rely on fresh food airlifts twice each week. Permafrost and freezing temperatures nearly year-round make growing crops impractical.<\/p>\n<p>Supply chain disruptions driven by the coronavirus pandemic and Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine have worsened food insecurity in poor countries globally. Nunavut\u2019s experience shows it has taken a toll on poor regions of even rich nations like Canada, which is the No.3 exporter of wheat and pork.<\/p>\n<p>In stores in Nunavut\u2019s capital Iqaluit recently, a bag of cherries sold for C$21 ($16.34), and a six-pack of bottled water cost C$19 \u2013 both about double the cost in southern Canada. A 12-pack of soft drink cans sold for C$27, triple the price in the south.<\/p>\n<p>Iqaluit resident Nathaniel Chouinard, 35, says he used to spend C$500 every two weeks to feed his family of six. Since January, he has been spending C$150 more every two weeks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI compensate by working more hours,\u201d said Chouinard, who works two jobs in security and information technology. \u201cI\u2019m spending less time with my family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Qajuqturvik Community Food Centre in Iqaluit, a soup kitchen that offers free meals to those in need, says by June this year it had served 20,000 meals \u2013 the number served up in all of 2021.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFood insecurity in the north was already called the longest-lasting public health emergency in Canadian history,\u201d said Rachel Blais, Qajuqturvik\u2019s executive director.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe sharp increase in demand we\u2019ve seen in the last seven months is alarming.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nunavut\u2019s Family Services Minister Margaret Nakashuk said hunger was hampering the ability of children to learn in school and fueling crime, especially break-ins.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018GETTING WORSE\u2019<\/p>\n<p>It is difficult to quantify how much food prices have risen in the north this year. Statistics Canada\u2019s measurement of inflation in the northern territories is limited, only assessing price increases in the three main cities and not breaking out individual components like food and fuel.<\/p>\n<p>Iqaluit\u2019s consumer price index has doubled since the start of this year, hitting 4.3% in June and well above the Bank of Canada\u2019s 2% target. That is well below Canada\u2019s national inflation rate of 8.1%, mostly because Nunavut\u2019s government made bulk purchases of fuel before prices spiked.<\/p>\n<p>The region has long struggled with food sufficiency. According to a 2020 Statistics Canada study, 57% of households in Nunavut dealt with food insecurity in 2017-2018, the highest level among provinces and territories in the country. Food insecurity is defined as a household lacking money to buy the variety or quantity of food it needs.<\/p>\n<p>Residents benefit from the Nutrition North federal food subsidy, which lowers the price of certain foods in some northern communities. But that is failing to reduce inequality, says Qajuqturvik\u2019s Blais.<\/p>\n<p>The region is also unable to directly reap the benefits of having waters swimming with fish. More than 95% of the turbot and shrimp caught offshore are exported because the territory lacks both a deepwater port to offload its catch as well as research to identify economic fishing locations closer to shore, said Brian Burke, executive director of the Nunavut Fisheries Association.<\/p>\n<p>The Canadian government has promised C$40 million to build Nunavut\u2019s first deepwater port, but that is a few years away.<\/p>\n<p>Blais, the soup kitchen director, said there is also concern among people in Nunavut that stores may be charging too much.<\/p>\n<p>North West Co, one of the biggest grocers in northern Canada, last year reported profit that was up 82.5% from its 2019 level. However, that reflects consumers buying more during the pandemic and the company\u2019s profit ratios are in line with those of southern grocery chains, said Mike Beaulieu, vice president of Canadian store operations at North West.<\/p>\n<p>Regulations to cut down on overpackaging and lengthen expiry dates could help, since Nunavut\u2019s biggest additional cost is flying in food, Beaulieu said.<\/p>\n<p>For example, a third of a box of cereal is often just air and certain foods carry longer best-before dates than needed, he said.<\/p>\n<p>Iqaluit Mayor Kenny Bell said he doesn\u2019t blame food companies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s really expensive to do business here,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is definitely getting worse.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>($1 = 1.2849 Canadian dollars)<\/p>\n<p> (Additional reporting by Julie Gordon in Ottawa, editing by Deepa Babington)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/?attachment_id=2735552\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/tagreuters.com2022binary_LYNXMPEI770QX-VIEWIMAGE.jpg\" alt=\"tagreuters.com2022binary_LYNXMPEI770QX-VIEWIMAGE\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/?attachment_id=2735553\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/tagreuters.com2022binary_LYNXMPEI770QV-VIEWIMAGE.jpg\" alt=\"tagreuters.com2022binary_LYNXMPEI770QV-VIEWIMAGE\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/?attachment_id=2735554\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/tagreuters.com2022binary_LYNXMPEI770QW-VIEWIMAGE.jpg\" alt=\"tagreuters.com2022binary_LYNXMPEI770QW-VIEWIMAGE\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Rod Nickel IQALUIT, Nunavut (Reuters) \u2013 In Canada\u2019s remote north, residents have long paid dearly for food, and rising prices have worsened an already dire situation, exposing the vulnerability<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1595188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1595188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1595188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1595188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1595188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1595188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1595188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}