How Arctic Fresh is Tackling Food Insecurity in Canada’s North
Why It Matters
Food insecurity remains a major issue in Canada’s north, with prices of items sky-rocketing by the time they reach under-served communities. One social enterprise, Arctic Fresh, has built a solution, and is successfully providing fresh, affordable goods to 13 under-served communities. How do they do it?
There are findings that report First Nations, Inuit, and Métis adults across the North have five to six times higher levels of food insecurity than the Canadian average. Nearly 70 percent of Nunavut residents live in a state of food insecurity. Similar rates have been documented in northern Ontario, while more than 60 percent of on-reserve Indigenous households in Northern Manitoba are food insecure.
Food prices can be two to three times higher in Nunavut than in southern Canada. With a long supply chain, often times running from Toronto to Winnipeg to Igloolik, and then to other communities, items not only have a decreased shelf life — they also increase price at every change of hand. Once in-store, items continue to acquire
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