Study finds Kivalliq hamlet tops 66 communities for food costs

Rankin Inlet has the dubious distinction of being the most expensive place in Canada to buy healthy food, according to a study released this past week by the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

The survey, conducted by volunteer shoppers in 66 communities across the country, found that Rankin Inlet was the most expensive place to buy apples, potatoes, brown rice, milk, and peanut butter. Rankin was the only Nunavut community included in the survey.

The foundation is using the data to call on governments to monitor staple food prices, and for producers and retailers to explore ways to reduce costs.

"Many provincial governments regulate the price of alcohol across provinces, but healthy food is subject to significant price variations from one community to the next," said Stephen Samis, director of health policy for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, in a news release. "You have to wonder why we control the price of alcohol but allow such price inconsistencies for healthy food – and not just in remote regions of the country – but even between larger metropolitan areas."

Staple food prices in Rankin Inlet were often as much as double the national average. Six apples cost $7.64 there, compared to the national average of $3.50. Shoppers in Rankin paid $8.19 for 2.7 kilograms of potatoes (national average $4.25), $11.99 for one kilogram of brown rice ($4.99), $11.89 for four litres of one-per cent milk ($5.26), and $8.49 for one kilogram of peanut butter ($5.27).

Rankin Inlet was also home to the second most expensive kilogram of lean ground beef in the country at $11.99, compared to the national average of $7.18.

The Kivalliq community is also home to the most expensive junk food in the country. The report found two litres of pop cost $8.99 (national average $1.87), a 235-gram bag of chips cost $5.49 (national average $2.79), and a 350-gram package of cookies cost $6.19 (national average $3.49).

Overall, fruit, vegetables and dairy accounted for almost 40 per cent of the cost of the grocery bill almost everywhere in the country, except in Nunavut and the NWT where they accounted for closer to 50 per cent of the grocery bill.

"Healthy eating is a key factor in preventing heart disease," said Beth Abramson, a Heart and Stroke Foundation spokesperson and cardiologist. "This report… should serve as a wake-up call that healthy eating is in danger of being out of reach for many Canadians, a problem which may only get worse given the current downturn in the economy."