We like the Nunavut food coalition, NWC says

The North West Co. said in a statement June 15 that their company supports the Nunavut Food Security Coalition formed last month by the Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.

“We are eager to join the premier [Eva Aariak] at the table and add practical advice based on success we’ve had just this year in lowering the cost of healthy food and increasing the consumption of dairy, protein and fresh produce in Nunavut,” Michael McMullen, the company’s executive vice president for northern Canada said in a news release.

The North West Co. operates 229 retail stores in northern Canada, Alaska, the Caribbean and the South Pacific, including 134 Northern and Northmart stores in northern Canada.

In Canada, the North West Co. operates stores in 67 communities covered by the Nutrition North Canada transportation subsidy for nutritious perishable foods, including 30 stores located in 21 Nunavut communities.

The company says it has already contributed to improving food security through its participation in Nutrition North.

According to their figures, consumption of dairy, meat, and produce in Nunavut has increased by between 14 and 19 per cent since the program started.

And they say that prices for nutritional perishable items has fallen. In Igloolik, for example, they say the price of four litres of milk has dropped from $15.19 to $7.70.

“Through even more collaboration and innovation with the Nunavut government, we believe that northern living costs, starting with food, can continue to be lowered,” McMullen said.