{"id":107870,"date":"2026-08-17T14:52:03","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T18:52:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=107870"},"modified":"2026-08-17T14:52:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T18:52:03","slug":"growing-food-for-astronauts-in-space-starts-with-inuit-in-nunavut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/17\/growing-food-for-astronauts-in-space-starts-with-inuit-in-nunavut\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing food for astronauts in space starts with Inuit in Nunavut"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News One day in the future, astronauts may need to grow food on the moon. Today, Nunavummiut need cheaper food from closer to home. That\u2019s why the Canadian Space Agency awarded a $745,000 contract to Inuit-owned Arctic Fresh and modular farm company The Growcer Inc. on July 24. The entities are tasked with designing an indoor, year-round fruit and vegetable farm that meets Nunavut\u2019s needs. \u201cNunavummiut communities are going to help us design it, and they\u2019re going to help us decide what we want to grow in it,\u201d said Merlyn Recinos, co-CEO of Arctic Fresh. Consultations will be held over the next year in Iglulik, Coral Harbour, Resolute Bay and Grise Fiord. For now, the contract with the Canadian Space Agency&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F08%2F17%2Fgrowing-food-for-astronauts-in-space-starts-with-inuit-in-nunavut%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News One day in the future, astronauts may need to grow food on the moon. Today, Nunavummiut need cheaper food from closer to home. That\u2019s why the Canadian Space Agency awarded a $745,000 contract to Inuit-owned Arctic Fresh and modular farm company The Growcer Inc. on July 24. The entities are tasked with designing an indoor, year-round fruit and vegetable farm that meets Nunavut\u2019s needs. \u201cNunavummiut communities are going to help us design it, and they\u2019re going to help us decide what we want to grow in it,\u201d said Merlyn Recinos, co-CEO of Arctic Fresh. Consultations will be held over the next year in Iglulik, Coral Harbour, Resolute Bay and Grise Fiord. For now, the contract with the Canadian Space Agency... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F08%2F17%2Fgrowing-food-for-astronauts-in-space-starts-with-inuit-in-nunavut%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Growing food for astronauts in space starts with Inuit in Nunavut - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/17\/growing-food-for-astronauts-in-space-starts-with-inuit-in-nunavut\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Growing food for astronauts in space starts with Inuit in Nunavut - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News One day in the future, astronauts may need to grow food on the moon. Today, Nunavummiut need cheaper food from closer to home. That\u2019s why the Canadian Space Agency awarded a $745,000 contract to Inuit-owned Arctic Fresh and modular farm company The Growcer Inc. on July 24. The entities are tasked with designing an indoor, year-round fruit and vegetable farm that meets Nunavut\u2019s needs. \u201cNunavummiut communities are going to help us design it, and they\u2019re going to help us decide what we want to grow in it,\u201d said Merlyn Recinos, co-CEO of Arctic Fresh. Consultations will be held over the next year in Iglulik, Coral Harbour, Resolute Bay and Grise Fiord. 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