In northern communities, limited retail competition may be a contributing factor to food insecurity, according to the article published in the 2017 Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada: Research, Policy and Practice journal.
According to Fort Albany’s market co-ordinators, the cost of food in the Northern Store was higher before the NWC registered for the federal subsidy program called Nutrition North Canada .
“We’re looking to become more independent in a sense of not having to rely upon the school or other institutions to use their space.
A few years ago, the co-ordinators applied for the Local Poverty Reduction Fund to evaluate the market, its impact on the community and how it can be improved.
The co-ordinators started off by ordering 500 to 600 pounds from smaller stores like Zudel’s in Timmins and were using a small, 1,000-pound plane to deliver products.
Before the market starts, community members pre-purchase a $50 food box that contains eight types of fruit, five or six types of vegetables and some ground beef.
On a standard market day, when the order comes in, they bring it in from the airport, unpack it, weigh items, pack the boxes for pick-up and then set it up for the open shopping market.
The leftover products are sold to those who couldn’t make it, didn’t order a box or don’t feel comfortable in “that mad rush,” Veeraraghavan said.
After going through the usual process of unpacking and weighing food, rather than setting it up for an open market, the organizers and volunteers prepare custom orders.
In 2020, the market brought in 90,000 pounds of food.
During the pandemic, in addition to perishable produce, the market started to offer food like bread, cheese and yogurt.
At one of the recent markets, a pound of beef cost $5, a tomato sauce $2, bread $3 and yogurt $8.
We have to talk about what’s leftover from the other one, nobody bought this after all or raspberries were hugely expensive and not in great condition.
When the market used to team with FoodShare, for a few years two trucking companies that had a refrigerated truck were running between Toronto and Cochrane.
Delivering food from Toronto to Cochrane is more expensive and it’s hard to find a truck to do the route, Metatawabin said.
“That’s how we used to operate entirely.
When getting their produce from the Quebec-based Deshaies, the co-ordinators don’t have to pay for the plane as it comes out of the subsidy directly.
From the time food goes to the train station, it usually takes a day and a half to receive the order depending on the weather, the amount of ordered food or planes available.
Putting in time into running the market can be challenging as it takes a lot of time and commitment and can feel like a full-time job, the co-ordinators said.
For her, one of the reasons she likes running the market is helping people who need healthy food such as people with diabetes or on a Keto diet.
“It feels good when the market is done.