Fresh, affordable food brings hope to the north

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This article was published 05/10/2015 (3124 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

GARDEN HILL FIRST NATION, Man. — Thanksgiving will be more bountiful this weekend in several remote northern communities such as this one where fresh food usually costs a fortune. In Garden Hill, they’re trying to take control of their food security by growing it themselves. The community-owned and community-run social enterprise called Meechim Farm is raising turkeys and chickens, growing fresh produce and teaching budding young farmers how to work the land.

“We’re very happy with it,” said Chief Arnold Flett.

Garden Hill has had more than its share of bad news, and many homes still don’t have running water. The farm represents hope for the future, say community members.

They’ve benefited from the fresh poultry processed right there at the farm, said manager Larry Wood.

This Thanksgiving, some Garden Hill families will be able to enjoy a locally raised turkey or chicken, farm supervisor Wayne Beardy said. Brendan Canada, the soft-spoken “chicken guy” who works at the farm gently picked up one of the big turkeys who may be sacrificed for someone’s Thanksgiving feast. Fellow farmhand Darryle Linklater said they’ve all learned a lot about raising their own food in a place where everything — especially fresh produce — costs a lot.

A water tank on one of the buildings is used to irrigate the farm in the growing community.

At the farm, they’ve been working with University of Manitoba scientists to figure out how to get stuff to grow in the rocky terrain and heavy clay soil. They set up a greenhouse to get things going, then planted raspberry and strawberry bushes, apple trees, potatoes, peas, beans and corn. The corn didn’t turn out great, but the potatoes thrived, said Wood, who also manages the fish plant and the Meechim market funded by the province. It gave the operation $50,000 and helped buy freezers so the produce could be kept after it was harvested.

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Garden Hill First Nation is 473 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.

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The crops have benefited from fertilizer from the fish plant, said Wood, who took Premier Greg Selinger and Healthy Living Minister Deanne Crothers on a tour of the farm Tuesday.

The premier and Crothers stopped in Garden Hill First Nation Tuesday after announcing in Churchill a retail subsidy program that drastically reduces the price of milk and fresh produce for consumers in seven remote northern communities including Churchill. (The Free Press accepted the province’s invitation to join the northern tour).

The pilot program called AFFIRM — Affordable Food in Remote Manitoba — aims to promote better health and a better quality of life, Crothers said. The program determines subsidy rates for retailers in each community, ranging from $1.20 per kilogram in Churchill to $1.60 in Shamattawa. The full amount of the subsidy is passed on to the customer, as Crothers saw when she stopped in at the Northern Store in Churchill. The “shelf talker” sign in the milk section showed a four-litre jug now costs $5.29, compared with $10.73 before the subsidy.

“Customers are very happy,” said store manager Gary Rey. The store displays the new prices for milk and fruits and vegetables, and the savings to the consumer show up on their cash-register receipt, he said.

The retail subsidy program is expected to cost about $1 million a year. The provincial program has been in the works for more than a year. It aims to improve and promote affordable, healthy foods for northern communities, Selinger said.

“This is great news for our community,” said Churchill Mayor Michael Spence. The province’s most northern town faces many challenges, the mayor said.

“We can now select healthy food at an affordable price.”

It’s not uncommon for some families in northern communities to pay extremely high prices for everyday food staples, such as $14.99 for a four-litre container of milk, said Selinger.

If healthy eating costs too much for some people, then everyone pays down the road in increased health-care costs and lost productivity, the premier said.

The federal government has a Nutrition North retail subsidy program, but it doesn’t cover every remote northern community, Selinger said. The province is trying to help people in those communities not covered, such as Churchill.

“We can’t leave the people in the north alone,” Selinger said. The federal auditor earlier took Nutrition North Canada to task for not clearly showing the full subsidy amount being passed on to consumers.

While Crothers was able to see prices for herself at a Churchill grocery story, the province has enlisted volunteer “price checkers” in each community to monitor the retail prices and make sure the subsidy is passed along to the consumer.

Participating retailers are required to submit reports as part of their claims process and submit to audits of their accounts and records.

The province is conducting regular audits to make sure retailers are following the terms of their subsidy agreement.

Brochures in English, Cree and Dene at the stores explain the program. The communities that will take part in this pilot program are Tadoule Lake, Brochet/Barren Lands, Shamattawa, Berens River, York Landing, Churchill and Pukatawagan.

The province is also looking at ways to help people in Thicket Portage, Pikwitonei and Ilford/War Lake where there is no retailer to offer the subsidy.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca