Basket Cases

North West Company's 'The  Northern' grocery, hardware, clothing & Tim's

Life in the north...it goes without saying that, due to transportation and handling, food prices here are

significantly more expensive, than what we are used to at home. I've held back a bit with this tale since it's common to most and I wanted to be able to view it from more of a local perspective.

Before the blizzard hit on sunday night, I decided it would be prudent to make sure I had sufficient supplies for a few extra days..just in case. So late sunday, once the locals had sufficient time to stock their larders, I decided it was time to see what was left. The shelves were becoming bare, not completely but much more than the normal restocking required after a busy weekend.

The Tim's kiosk At the Northern during a slow time...Open since June 2013

There was lots of the staples like milk, eggs, butter, and margarine...but bread was starting to get sparse. Snacks had been cleared...there was lots of meat but vegetables were starting to thin as well. There were a few families just picking last minute things like myself, and the Tim's kiosk in the Northern was empty...save for one table of teens. Spring break for the locals schools was last week so they probably were plotting what they would do on their extended march break if the blizzard did indeed arrive.

Before we get to the prices, an observation of the family ahead of me in line. Cases of pop are expensive. He had two on the bottom shelf of the basket and a number of pre-made sandwiches and lunch treats, apples and snacks for the kids lunches. One full shopping cart....the basket fully loaded...and my mouth dropped as the cash register totalled $499.67. He calmly reached for his debit and loaded the kids, the boxes of groceries into the huge white pickup and drove away.

So lets talk prices. Bread is around $3.45 for a loaf of wonder bread which I bought at 50% reduction since they had lots one day and were probably expecting another shipment...haven't seen that since. The 12 grain loaves, I usually buy, go for $4.19 and they were on sale one week at 30 cents off. Becel Margarine 454 gm $6.35...a dozen large eggs were reasonable at $2.49....a half gallon of Orange juice was $7.95....a gallon of 2% milk was $7.59...while the International Delight Irish Cream coffee creamer was $5.29 for 473 ml.

Condiments are another thing. A 475 ml jar of Miracle Whip was $6.59....French's mustard 225 ml was $3.19 while Bick's relish was $5.49 for 375 ml. Soft drinks are expensive due to weight...I'm paying $2.39 a can for 7-Up....you'd think I was eating at a sports venue.

Brace yourself for the meat department. ..500 grams of no name Bacon is $4.39...A package of Schneiders Red Hots were $7.29....two small boneless pork loin chops were $5.17...and a pound of lean ground beef was $9.50. Chicken, well the chickens here are very small. Pre-cooked meats are available friday and saturday in the heated display, just before the checkouts, but they were $14.99 for a whole chicken. I bought 5 chicken drums, very nicely prepped, for $6.24.

For my lunch, I've been buying apples...the Gala apples are $4.30 a kilo so I'm in for $2.55 for three. The other produce was a small cooking oinion at 1.79 /kg, and mine was a steal at 22 cents. One of the staff told me a story about they had paid $7 for this wonderful looking tomato...put it in their knapsack for the journey home..about three blocks. When putting it into the fridge, she noticed a small blemish on its side. The next day the tomato had completely rotted from the quick freeze on the way home..She now takes a taxi home when she buys produce.

Fresh good looking vegetables are hard to come by. Last week at the flea market the Arctic Buying company had brought in assorted bags of produce from Winnipeg and were selling two reusable grocery bags, like those big green ones at Sobey's, the price was $45 for two and they were flying off the table. They contained celery, asparagus, lettuce, carrots, blueberries, and a myriad of other greens that I couldn't visualize easily.

Of course, the Sushi table there, was also very active.

So, you can see how the price of groceries can add up quite quickly here...add a couple of teenagers, and before you know it, you could be spending $500 very easily. There is a promotion here in Rankin Inlet, since March is Nutrition Month. Banners in the Grocery Store and the Health Centre encourage healthy diets...a mixture of 'store-bought” and 'Country' foods.

The term 'country' food pertains to wild game, fish or beast, taken from the land. They hunt and fish but use what they catch. Their food bank program here involves a freezer bank program, where successful hunters and fishers donate to the freezers so that elders and those without, may not suffer the agony of starvation in this climate. That is a part of the history here, that is still fresh in the minds of the elders, but can't possibly be understood by their grandchildren, and great grandchildren when access to food is so easy. Currently, in Rankin Inlet, food is readily available, just be prepared for the sticker shock.

Half Kilo of lean ground beef, Wonder white bread on sale and Knorr Onion soup 4 pack totalled $17.20