Is the situation getting better?
In 2012, protesters from parts of Nunavut — specifically Iqaluit — sparked discussion about the sky-high food prices in the territory. These protesters shocked many people by exposing how much they were actually paying for everyday food and toiletry items: cabbage costing $28, chicken for $65, and Cheez Whiz for $29. After the 2012 protests, food prices dropped slightly, but has there been any lasting change?
According to the Nunavut Food Price Security Survey from 2013 and 2014, food prices have dropped four per cent. This leaves a key question, however: is this enough?
Soup kitchens are still highly visited in the territory, with lines often stretching out the doors. The last Inuit Health Survey stated that 70 per cent of households are still food insecure, meaning that they do not have the means to access safe and healthy food. This is more than eight times the national average, and very high for an indigenous population in a developed country.
Unfortunately, there isn’t one solution for a food problem as nuanced as can be seen in the North. In making small but positive steps, however, Will Hyndman of Edmonton has thought of something to help. Hunting caribou, seal, and whale is an often-suggested “solution” for residents of the territory, and Hyndman wants Canadians to look at hunting from a new perspective.
Hyndman started a hunter and trappers market in Iqaluit, which gives hunters an opportunity to sell their meat in town. Hyndman explained that this kind of marketplace is important in addressing other economic issues.
“When you go hunting, you can’t take your fish and stuff it back down your gas tank,” Hyndman said. “You can’t take your seal and turn it into more bullets, whereas traditionally, everything came from the animals that you were hunting.”
The market is a way to help hunting practices to adapt and become a viable solution for some of Nunavut’s food problems. Some argue that Hyndman’s actions have perhaps done more than those of Nunavut’s Member of Parliament, Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq — who, instead of answering questions about food problems, was seen reading a newspaper in the House of Commons.
Another change affecting the territory from 2012 onwards is the $60 million Nutrition North Subsidy. This program may factor into the slightly lower food prices, but there are also some significant problems with it. For instance, it is impossible for Aboriginal Affairs to know how much the food subsidy is benefitting consumers, because merchants do not have to report their profit margins. Also, the goal of the program is to make food more “affordable,” but there is no definition available as to what “affordable” means.
Beyond this, factors determining eligibility are unclear, inconsistent, and not always based on need. Residents have also doubted the program’s effectiveness, as it can still cost about $100 for two small bags of groceries that will only feed one person for one day.
With more defined guidelines and stricter monitoring of where the money is ending up, perhaps Nutrition North would be a better part of the solution for Canada’s Northern food security issue, as the people of Nunavut still need help accessing affordable food.