North of Canada is cold and hungry as a result of food inflation.

 IQALUIT, Nunavut, August 8 - North of Canada is cold and hungry as a result of food inflation. Rising costs have made an already grim situation in Canada's distant north even worse, revealing the vulnerability of one of the major exporters of grains and meat in the world.

North of Canada is cold and hungry as a result of food inflation.

Communities in Nunavut, the largest of the three territories that make up Canada's northernmost area, rely on fresh food airlifts twice a week because there are no highways connecting them. Crops cannot be grown in areas with permafrost because of the practically constant freezing temperatures.

Food insecurity in developing nations worldwide has gotten worse as a result of supply chain disruptions brought on by the coronavirus outbreak and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The experience of Nunavut demonstrates how it has affected underdeveloped areas of wealthy countries like Canada, the world's third-largest supplier of wheat.

A bag of cherries cost C$21 ($16.34) and a six-pack of bottled water cost C$19, respectively, in the capital of Nunavut, Iqaluit, recently—both prices roughly double those in southern Canada. Soft drink cans cost C$27 for a 12-pack, which is three times what they cost down south.

Nathaniel Chouinard, a 35-year-old inhabitant of Iqaluit, claims he once had to spend $500 every two weeks on food for his six-person family. He has been adding C$150 to his expenditures every two weeks since January.

Chouinard, who holds two jobs in security and IT, said he makes up for it by putting in more hours. I'm seeing my family less frequently.

Margaret Nakashuk, minister of family services in Nunavut, claimed that children's capacity to learn in school was being hampered by hunger, which also encouraged criminality, particularly break-ins.

Going downhill

How much the cost of food has increased in the north this year is hard to measure. In the northern territories, Statistics Canada's assessment of inflation is limited because it only considers price rises in the three largest cities and does not separate out specific items like food and fuel.

Since the beginning of this year, the consumer price index in Iqaluit has doubled, reaching 4.3 percent in June. That is far lower than Canada's overall inflation rate of 8.1%, mostly because the government of Nunavut bought large quantities of gasoline before prices skyrocketed.

Food security has long been a problem in the area. According to a 2020 Statistics Canada study, Nunavut has the greatest rate of food insecurity among the nation's provinces and territory in 2017–2018 at 57% of households. A household that is unable to afford the type or quantity of food that it requires is said to be experiencing food insecurity.

The federal Nutrition North food subsidy decreases the cost of some items in several northern towns, benefiting locals. But according to Blais of Qajuqturvik, that does nothing to lessen inequality.

Additionally, the region is unable to directly benefit from its fish-filled seas. According to Brian Burke, executive director of the Nunavut Fisheries Association, more than 95% of the turbot collected offshore are exported since the territory lacks both a deepwater port to dump its catch and research to locate profitable fishing grounds closer to shore.

The first deepwater port for Nunavut will be built with the assistance of C$40 million from the Canadian government, although it will take some time.

The director of the soup kitchen, Blais, claimed that people in Nunavut are also worried about possible overcharging by businesses.

One of the largest grocery chains in northern Canada, North West Co, reported profit that was up 82.5 percent over the previous year. However, Mike Beaulieu, vice president of Canadian retail operations at North West, noted that this reflected consumers making more purchases during the epidemic and that the company's profit percentages are comparable to those of southern supermarket chains.

Since flying in food is Nunavut's biggest added expense, regulations to reduce overpackaging and lengthen expiration dates could be helpful, according to Beaulieu.

For instance, a third of a box of cereal is frequently merely air, and other foods have best-before dates that are longer than necessary, he claimed.

Kenny Bell, the mayor of Iqaluit, said he doesn't blame the food industry.

He declared, Doing business here is incredibly expensive. It's unquestionably getting worse.

$1 is equal to 1.2849 Canadian dollars.