Food prices in the North

[jennylives]

How do you feel about the astronomical food prices being reported in the North? *link removed*

I think if you can't support support your family up there it's probably time to move. If you want to live by the old ways and support your family that is fine but I don't feel it is something we should subsidize outside of a temporary stipend to relocate.

And I do feel they are being gouged but understand there are transportation costs added in.

[process99]

Might want to bring some of that information to the forum as some don't have or want the facebook virus..
Without that virus you cannot view the article.
thx
P99

[-fluffy-]

Transportation is the biggie for sure. A lot of these settlements depend on air freight to move perishables in, there is usually only a brief period of ice-free waterways in the summer that allow barges to move in the bulk of supplies for the year, traditionally non-perishables. But if you're looking for milk, produce, meat, anything with a restricted shelf-life and some weight to it, watch out. It would be like taking your grocery order from Save-On to the Post Office and mailing it home.

[zookeeper]

This is not just up north either, West coast too. Sad thing is the non-remote areas close to these places are aware of the lack of supplies and are price gouging as well. For many it is not an "old way" but their home, no subsidies either.

[grammafreddy]

The ranchers out on the Chilcotin Plateau don't get subsidized, either. Many just make an annual or semi-annual trip into town (Williams Lake) for their grocery staples when their cattle go to market.

[D suzuki]

its the price of fuel that makes it cost to much to transport north, we have all this oil but , it seems we cant have fair gas prices

[-fluffy-]

The ranchers out on the Chilcotin Plateau don't get subsidized, either. Many just make an annual or semi-annual trip into town (Williams Lake) for their grocery staples when their cattle go to market.

True, but a "trip to town" just isn't an option for communities that are geographically isolated, especially when you start looking at places in the arctic where the nearest town large enough to find cheaper groceries could easily be a thousand dollar plane ticket away.

[The Green Barbarian]

its the price of fuel that makes it cost to much to transport north, we have all this oil but , it seems we cant have fair gas prices

what's "fair" - and who decides that? You? A panel of "academics" who have never owned a business or been off the government teat? What is "fair"? This word is bandied about so much, yet no one ever defines it.

[jennylives]

Well, I think $28 for a cabbage, $19 for a box of spaghetti noodles, $55 for baby formula or $111 for a bag of dog food is definitely not fair.

[jennylives]

$18 for 8 rolls of toilet paper, $5.79 for one can of corn and $33 for a 5 kg bag of flour don't sound very fair either.

[The Green Barbarian]

so it sounds like, given the high prices, that there is room here for an entrepreneur to step in and come up with a brilliant solution, that doesn't involve blundering useless government intervention, with innovation and fresh thinking, to solve this problem. Go capitalism go!

[jennylives]

Yes, the idea sounds nice but it isn't playing out that way. Capitalism is not helping the people of the North.

[grammafreddy]

Yes, the idea sounds nice but it isn't playing out that way. Capitalism is not helping the people of the North.

Capitalism or government nanny-ism mixed with capitalism? Seems to me most of the problems in the north stem from government not entrepreneurs.

Got a link to where you are pulling those prices from?

[jennylives]

Is the government responsible for these prices in some way?

They are from the Facebook group where the residents post pictures of the items on the shelves. I posted it before but there seems to be a problem with the link. The group is called Feeding My Family. $105 for a case of 24 bottles of water is another one that stood out although I just get mine from the tap.

[D suzuki]

the answer i think is until a cheaper for of fuel is invented, living in the north is only for the rich