2023-11-13 05:00:00
The price of food in the Far North québécois is so enormous that a worker from Montérégie takes with her food supplies for weeks, question of avoiding going at the grocery store.
“The last time I came back [à Montréal] I stocked up on a huge supply of pineapples because I was really traumatized by the $12 pineapples,” laughs Nicole Lussier, who has been working in Puvirnituq in Nunavik since July 24.
The human relations agent for the DPJ takes with her between 75 and 90 kilos of food when she leaves for Hudson Bay.
His precious food must be packaged, frozen and well preserved in order to last until the end of his 9-week work period.
Soft drinks are a luxury that can cost almost $32 for a 2 liter bottle. PHOTO PROVIDED BY NICole Lussier
“I think I’m an extreme, I bring everything with me except yogurt, eggs and milk, because it doesn’t freeze […] I have several colleagues who are used to bringing vacuum-packed meat with them,” she emphasizes.
From cubes of mashed bananas to beef patties, sushi rice and coffee beans, each food item he brings allows him to avoid the sky-high prices of the only grocery store in the municipality.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY Nicole Lussier
“I have a colleague who had a craving for nachos [chips avec salsa et fromage] a few days ago, well it cost him $50 to buy all the ingredients on site,” she says.
On grocery store shelves in remote areas, consumers regularly have to pay double the price, often more, for an item as mundane as a bag of chips.
For certain products, like bottles of water, the price can be 10 times higher than what we pay in Montreal. As an indication, a 1.5 liter bottle of Aquafina brand water sells for $12.49, while it is sold for $2.49 in mainland France. As problems with the delivery of drinking water are commonplace, the community of Puvirnituq often has no choice but to fall back on this blue gold sold in grocery stores.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY Nicole Lussier
“Sometimes we can run out of water for two days, other times for two weeks. It happened while I was away! There was no water for two weeks. When I returned there, everyone was sick,” she laments.
In this region located in the middle of a food desert, food prices at the grocery store have increased with inflation and tend to be even more expensive during the winter. Food transport remains the crux of the matter and, without food autonomy, people in remote areas are almost entirely dependent on distributors.
Prices are easily double those found here. PHOTO PROVIDED BY Nicole Lussier
“It’s really a question of distribution, there are certain programs that exist like Nutrition North which subsidizes distributors in order to allow prices to decrease in the North, but it’s a program that has never really worked.” explains Sylvain Charlebois, agri-food professor at Dalhousie University.
While hunting and fishing allow residents, many of whom are from the Inuk community, to meet their protein intake, the prices of other essential foods such as fruits and vegetables are exorbitant.
Hard prices to swallow
In grocery stores in the Far North, prices for basic foods like vegetables, fruit or flour are up to 10 times more expensive than here.
It’s not easy to eat a balanced diet in the Far North. Currently, the Canadian food guide recommends that half of the plate be composed of vegetables or fruits, but at the Puvirnituq grocery store a simple package of 4 peppers retails for $12.50 while here for the same quantity we pay between $4.99 and $6.99.
“Vegetables are expensive and they are not always beautiful, broccoli is often brown,” comments Nicole Lussier, who has lived in the municipality of around 1,779 inhabitants for almost 4 months.
Other basic ingredients like flour and sugar are also very expensive. For a 10kg bag of flour, you have to pay $27.99, while a 2kg packet of white sugar retails for $20.59. The prices of dairy products are close to those found in grocery stores in Montérégie, the 1.5kg pot of yogurt is priced at $13 and the 2 liter box of milk retails for $6.50.
Some comparisons
Regular prices at the local Puvirnituq grocery store:
A bag of Russet potatoes (5lb): $6
Philadelphia cream cheese (250g): $9
A bunch of 5 tomatoes: $7.43
A jar of Kraft peanut butter (500g): between $12 and $15
One pound of Lactancia salted butter (545g): $12
A bottle of 7up soft drink (2 liters): $32.79
Chapman’s ice cream sandwiches (pack of 12): $23.79
A jar of Ruffles chip dip (425g): $12.39
A bag of Ruffles chips (612g): $8.79
Regular prices in Montreal (Metro grocer website):
Sack of Russet Potatoes (5lb): $4.99
Philadelphia cream cheese (250g): $6.49
A bunch of 5 tomatoes: $6.59
A jar of Kraft peanut butter (500g): $5.49
One pound of Lactancia salted butter (545g): $8.19
A bottle of 7up soft drink (2 liters): $3.49
Chapman’s Ice Cream Sandwiches (Pack of 12): $8.49
A jar of Rufles dip for chips (425g): $5.79
A bag of Ruffles chips (612g): $4.99
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