$50 ketchup: Nunavut mayor discusses coping with high grocery prices

By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News GRISE FIORD, NUNAVUT-High grocery prices are creating food insecurity in Nunavut’s northernmost community, Grise Fiord mayor Meeka Kiguktak said, and the absence of a sealift is making matters worse. Kiguktak said groceries are being flown in by plane to her community, a much more expensive shipping route than by marine freight. “I was trying to bake something with coconut, it cost $27.99, and the pickles cost $50, the ketchup costs the same,” Kiguktak said. New items on shelves of the only grocery store in town — the Grise Fiord Inuit Co-operative Limited — all carry the high price of air transport, according to Kiguktak. She said she contacted Arctic Co-operatives Limited (ACL), the federation that the Grise Fiord store is…

This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription – Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.
Register
Already a member? Log in here

Add Your Voice

Is there more to this story? We'd like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Contribute your voice on our contribute page.