Food prices in the North

[twobits]

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.

I've got a problem with this. Since when has cabbage, spaghetti and bagged dog food been larder items for Inuit living on the coast of the north? I understand that this may be home to them and they may not want to leave but then they should practice the sustinance methods that supported them just fine for thousands of years and not expect me to subsidize there cabbage and bagged dog food. It's akin to me complaining about the cost of quinoa compared to what foods are available right here. Wonder what a cpl of pounds of seal meat would cost me down at safeway?

[jennylives]

What would you consider staples for Northerners?

[The Green Barbarian]

What would you consider staples for Northerners?

whatever they lived on before they decided they were entitled to all of the same food we eat, no matter what the cost.

[coffeeFreak]

I've got a problem with this. Since when has cabbage, spaghetti and bagged dog food been larder items for Inuit living on the coast of the north? I understand that this may be home to them and they may not want to leave but then they should practice the sustinance methods that supported them just fine for thousands of years and not expect me to subsidize there cabbage and bagged dog food. It's akin to me complaining about the cost of quinoa compared to what foods are available right here. Wonder what a cpl of pounds of seal meat would cost me down at safeway?

The Inuit have nothing to do with this discussion twobits other than as consumers like the rest of society.

How far North are you talking jennylives?

[D suzuki]

removed - Jennylives

[jennylives]

whatever they lived on before they decided they were entitled to all of the same food we eat, no matter what the cost.

They are "we". We are all Canadians. Do you have examples of what they "should" be eating?

$22 for two nipples for a baby bottle is another I just came across.

[coffeeFreak]

I was in Yellowknife one winter just before the ice roads were opened. A tomato was over $20 a pound, and don't even think of enjoying a pop. It must be getting worse now with climate change, as it seems the window for functioning ice roads is becoming narrower and narrower. This can't help but have serious consequences on the price of goods.

[jennylives]

It's mostly Nunavut. Here is a link to the tumblr page. http://nunavutfoodprice.tumblr.com/

[V-Rated]

I simply can't understand how people can live north paying those prices for staples of life. I can understand a higher wage to compensate for the remote areas...but not everyone can be making big money up there.

[Captain Awesome]

They should live the life in a more sustainable way and practice 100 mile diet.

[Glacier]

And despite the high prices, Nunavut is the fast growing province/territory in Canada...

[Captain Awesome]

I simply can't understand how people can live north paying those prices for staples of life.

If I'm not mistaken, they get subsidized + tax breaks for living up there.

[GenesisGT]

If I'm not mistaken, they get subsidized + tax breaks for living up there.

Everyone living in the prescribed areas gets a basic deduction of 8.25/day Zone A location or 4.125/day Zone B after six months residency. Also if you maintain a household one person in the household can claim 8.25/day Zone A or 4.125/per Zone B. This deduction does not increase if you have dependents. There are other deductions for travel, (medical, employer paid).

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/t2222/t2222-11e.pdf

The government (or you and I) have relied on the people of the north to maintain sovereignty for the last hundred years, to the point of moving Inuit to locations in the high arctic that were not traditional living locations. Having lived in the high arctic there is a benefit to people living in the north, especially with the amount of resources that are being found up there.

I think the gov't should increase the tax deductions for northern Canadians to offset the higher cost of living, because unlike us they cannot benefit from cheaper prices that we enjoy because of gov't financed transportation networks that we have in the south.

[normaM]

used to happen in Whitehorse all the time, bad roads, shortage of truckers, etc and suddenly everything on the shelves would have the prices jacked.. and there not everyone got the northern living allowance. But the liquor always made it - first place I think to have the bars open Sunday. People were great about sharing and helping out during the rough times. Lord I hated that stinking place!

[-fluffy-]

It's been a few years since I lived in the Arctic, but for the most part employment wages and benefits reflected the isolation and higher cost of living up there through longer vacation allotments and grocery and housing subsidies. The outfit I worked for would cover freight costs letting us order groceries out of Edmonton. Still, highly perishable items were a killer. We used to drink something called "Tri-Milk", a partially condensed milk product that you mixed with water. It was available down south for industrial use only (as an ingredient in other products) but we could get it up north because of the obvious savings in freight costs. Some would subsidize themselves by taking advantage of the various "country foods" available by hunting, almost exclusively meat and fish.

If you want to look at "who's fault this whole mess is" you'd almost have to start back when it was decided to "civilize" the Inuit and bring them in off the land, taking them away from their seasonally nomadic lifestyle and showing them how to do things "normally".