Fresh food draws shoppers to Rankin Inlet fair

Sushi was one of the best-selling items at a recent food fair in Rankin Inlet. (HANDOUT PHOTO)

Tara Tootoo-Fotheringham, left, and customer Emilia Ramey at a recent fresh food fair held in Rankin Inlet. (PHOTO BY NOEL KALUDJAK)

It’s rare for people to get excited about broccoli.

But offer fresh, crisp broccoli to Nunavummiut — that’ll draw a crowd.

At least that’s the experience Tara Tootoo-Fotheringham had when she recently hosted a fresh food fair in her hometown of Rankin Inlet.

Tootoo-Fotheringham, now based in Winnipeg, owns and operates the online food shipping site, Arctic Buying Co., which ships food around the territory.

Through her company, she prepared bags of goods — vegetables, fruit, stew mix, ready-made sushi along with some other household items flown directly from Winnipeg to Rankin Inlet.

Depending on the number of items, Tootoo-Fotheringham charged $20, $30 or $40 a bag out of the community hall.

The two-day sale Feb. 2 and Feb. 4 raised $1,000 for the Rankin Inlet minor hockey association.

Something she heard a lot from her customers: “It’s so fresh!”

“It was clear to me the biggest draw was fresh food,” she said. “That’s what people find most expensive and difficult to buy here.”

Tootoo-Fotheringham was able to apply the Nutrition North Canada subsidy to the food bag items, which helped reduce the cost of shipping.

Valued at about $12 in Winnipeg, the $30 bag would have cost roughly the same at the local co-op store, and about $10 more at the Northern store, she said, according to a rough comparison she did.

The main difference was the freshness, she added.

“When you go into a store, you often make a decision about what to make for dinner based on how the stuff looks,” she added.

“That’s one of the biggest complaints — that produce looks old. So if this fair gets people thinking about how to include these healthier items in their diet, that’s a good thing.”

Tootoo-Fotheringham knows that freshness can’t be guaranteed in most northern communities. As a former Rankin Inlet restaurant owner, she’s dealt with delivery delays due to blizzards, and the arrival of limp and unappealing products.

Her newer business venture ensures produce orders are well-protected, for a fee. Items are bubble-wrapped and placed in boxes that are then cold weather-wrapped with 40-pound brown paper.

“The airlines do not take responsibility for perishable items,” she said. “So that’s on us.”

The recent food fair mirrors efforts made by different groups in Iqaluit in recent years.

This weekend, the group IqaluEAT will put on their third market which will focus this time around on bringing in winter products such as nuts, seeds, dried goods, jams, honey, cheeses and coffee.

The purpose, like Tootoo-Fotheringham’s fair, isn’t necessarily to offer food at cheaper prices, but to deliver fresh food from its closest point of production.

In Rankin Inlet, there’s room for the same kind of model, but that would take a group of dedicated volunteers, Tootoo-Fotheringham said.

“Realistically, there would be a group taking this on,” she said. “In the future, the food bank or another group could make some money to direct back to other community projects.”

Tootoo-Fotheringham plans to host another fresh food fair in Rankin Inlet Feb. 28.