To feed a territory with the unique challenges present in Nunavut is one thing. Nearly 40,000 people in 27 communities spread across 2 million kilometers of Canadian tundra and the arctic islands. There are no roads leading up from the southern Canadian provinces. Everything comes up via two methods. A large container ship will bring in a vast amounts of supplies during August when the sea ice lets up. After the ice comes in around October, it’s all up to the airplanes. This leads to an increase in price to most goods that the vast majority of Nunavutmiuts cannot cope with. Poverty is a rampant problem throughout the territory and food insecurity affects practically every family. 70% of children go without at least one meal a day.
In the past week, we have received two food hampers from the Government of Nunavut, the NTI and various sponsors from across Nunavut. The amount of food we received is absolutely astounding! And yes, I’m going to list it off, because this blew my mind. Remember my first paragraph. 27 communities spread over 2 million kilometers of land.
4 Litres of Milk
1 kg Quick Oats
A box of Shreddies
4 Chicken Noodle Soup mixes
3 Bell peppers
Mushrooms
Carrots
Onions
Lettuce
Broccoli
Strawberries
Grapes
Apples
And 10 pounds of Potatoes.
And this was just the first hamper. Every house in Nunavut should have received one of these on Sunday, May 24th. Then, a few days later another hamper showed up which is equally as impressive, if not more so.
1 kg of Minute Rice
1 kg of All-Purpose flour
1 L of Canola Oil
2 boxes of Kraft Dinner (Macaroni and cheese)
A small bottle of Hand Sanitizer
1 kg frozen Pork Chops
1 kg Chicken Thighs
1 kg Ground Beef
1 kg Spare Ribs
1 kg Stir Fry Beef Strips
1kg Striploin Steaks
Another 10-pound bag of Potatoes
This hamper also came with a cleaning voucher that can be taken to a store in your community to redeem for some COVID-19 cleaning supplies. A small face cloth, a hand towel, soap, disinfectant, and hand sanitizer.
I know that Nunavut’s population is the equivalent of a town to some of you out there from larger states and countries But Nunavut is very VERY big. You can fit three whole France’s inside the land that makes up Nunavut without spilling more than 3% into the water. It’s really big. So to me, getting this much food to everyone in the territory at no personal cost to the people is a mind-boggling feat that shows that some governments and corporations do care for their people and try to make things better.
Here is a list of some of the companies involved in bringing food to everyone in Nunavut.
Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, the organization representing Inuit in Nunvaut.
Arctic Co-Ops Ltd
Baffinland Iron Mines
See Change Initiative
Canadian Rangers
Oceans North
Community Foundations of Canada