How High is Your Grocery Bill?

I knew food costs more in rural and isolated towns in Canada was expensive, but from my home in New Westminster where food from all over the globe is instantly accessible at, for the most part, reasonable prices it's easy to forget how lucky I am to have access to fresh, nutritious, and affordable foods.

I was shocked when I came across a Facebook page called Feeding My Family, started by citizens of Nunavut rallying against the outrageous prices of food. How outrageous may you ask, here are some examples posted on their Facebook page.

(the price is $104 in case it's to hard to read)

$104 dollars for a flat of bottled water is unbelievable, but almost no more unbelievable than the fact that most communities in Nunavut don't have running water and those that do receive the grade of D on a report done on drinking water in Canada. 

Nunavut residents are planning a protest for Saturday June 9th outside their local Northern brand grocery store to protest the sky rocketing food prices. They are largely reacting to the decision of the Government of Canada to end the Food Mail Program last April, which subsidized shipping costs of fresh and perishable foods to remote northern communities, and it's replacement with Nutrition North where the the savings are passed on to the store who in turn is supposed to pass on the savings to the consumer.

Unsurprisingly, the consumer is not seeing any savings, meaning that the cost of feeding themselves and their families has grossly increased, making eating fresh and nutritious food even more difficult for Northern Canadians.

The willingness of our government to cut social programs and sell off the right of individuals to chose the food they eat at somewhat reasonable prices to a business whose bottom line will always be profit is appalling. The need for a unified food security plan for Canada is essential for the health of our nation. For so many people to be hungry and without access to nutritious food in a first world country is shameful. Good health should not only be for those who can afford it.