Iqaluit food market returns for Valentine’s Day

Michel Potvin, pictured, a member of the Iqaluit citizens’ group IqaluEat, will help to host the third fresh food market in the city on Valentine’s Day. Organizers expect to sell produce, dried goods and specialty items for up to 300 customers at Nakasuk School. (PHOTO BY PETER VARGA)

Iqaluit residents will get a chance to shop for more fresh produce and specialty foods on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, when IqaluEat puts on its third food market at Nakasuk School.

The group’s first winter market follows two markets it hosted in Iqaluit last fall when it brought fresh vegetables, fruit and specialty foods directly from producers near Ottawa in eastern Ontario and western Quebec.

To offer food that’s in tune with the season, the winter market will supply a bigger variety of nuts, seeds, dried goods, and items such as jams, honey, cheeses, coffee and, of course, chocolate treats for Valentine’s Day.

“We’re going beyond fruits and vegetables this time around,” said Michel Potvin, founding member and spokesperson for IqaluEat. “And to keep in line with the Valentine’s Day theme, we’re going to have boxed chocolate truffles.”

On top of fresh products such as potatoes, peppers, and carrots, and less common ones such as zucchini, asparagus and avocados, IqaluEat will also offer larger quantities of popular specialty items like bagels, baguettes and cheeses.

“We’re bringing in some alternative foods such as dried fruits, whether it be figs or apricots or different types of nuts and seeds as well,” Potvin said.

“This is the time of year when people start going out ski-dooing or cross-country skiing, so nuts and dried fruits are good to bring along,” Potvin said. “We’re trying something new and we’ll see what the response is.”

Iqalungmiut turned out in big numbers for IqaluEat’s fall markets, which sold out fast. The winter edition will offer about 1,500 kilograms of produce and other food products, much like the last market in November — but with a greater share of dried goods and non-perishable items.

“That’s directly linked to the fact that we can’t get as much fresh local stuff (from regions around Ottawa) as we would hope,” Potvin said.

The group’s ultimate goal is to create a fresh food co-operative that offers items for sale from the closest point of production to Iqaluit.

The project took root last summer, when a group of six residents partnered with Carrefour Nunavut, an Iqaluit-based francophone economic development agency, for logistical support.

The citizens’ group enlisted The Northern Shopper, an Ottawa-based online grocery and expediting business that is eligible for Nutrition North Canada freight subsidies.

The Northern Shopper buys the items on behalf of IqaluEat so that the Iqaluit group can benefit from the subsidy.

IqaluEat also gets financial support from Réseau de santé en français du Nunavut (RÉSAFAN) which promotes healthy living and French-language health care services in the territory.

Most recently, funding from the Government of Quebec, through the Secretariat aux affaires intergouvernementales canadiennes (SAIC), will help the group define how the co-op will be organized.

The group’s two options are to create an actual bricks-and-mortar store or a purchasers’ co-op, which would not require as much physical space.

“We’ve received funding from the Government of Quebec actually to fund a feasibility study, which is what we’re doing right now,” Potvin said. “And the third market is going to give us some additional information.

“Right now we’re gathering information on our market, our population, what are our shopping habits, the competition in town, if there is a place for another player, and those types of things.”

The project’s future looks favourable right now.

More than 100 Iqalungmiut have signed on to the group’s mailing list, which would be enough to start a purchasers’ co-op, Potvin said.

Selling food at prices roughly 20 per cent less than local grocery store prices has been the first attraction, he said. Another attraction is the market’s variety of food, which includes “products that you just won’t find here,” Potvin said.

Interest in the markets has grown to include all members of the community.

“There were a lot more local Inuit people, which we were very pleased to see,” Potvin said of the second market. Residents from the Philippines also turned out in greater numbers.

“It was good to see the variety of people who came out to the second market,” Potvin said, adding that all members who sign on can submit requests for specific foods.

To help keep shoppers from waiting in line, IqaluEat will offer 40 pre-selected bags of produce at $50 each, available for pick-up 30 minutes before the market opens.

IqaluEat’s food market opens at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14 in the gymnasium of Nakasuk School. Contact IqaluEat@gmail.com for information.