A Photo is Worth 1000 Words

There was an article in The Toronto Star this week that caught my eye. It began:

As winter ice closes in on remote Arctic communities and closes off supply routes, the most basic necessities become precious, and pricey, commodities.

That is so very true, and it's a fact of life that Inuit live with every day

The cost of living is falling for most Canadians, who saw prices drop for the second month in a row in August, by 0.8 per cent over the previous year, according to Statistics Canada's latest figures.

But inflation is running at 1.5 per cent across Nunavut.

I sometimes wonder what statistics like that mean to the average Canadian, so I thought I’d post a few pictures taken in grocery stores in Arctic communities to make them a little more real.

Although the article makes note of the inflation rate in Nunavut it is only one of the four Inuit regions (the others being the Inuvialuit Region in the Northwest Territories, Nunavik in Northern Quebec, and Nunatsiavut in Labrador), and they all have high food prices.

Imagine going to the grocery store and finding this:

Or maybe this...

Or possibly even this...

A picture really is worth a thousand words isn’t it? And, if you look closely, they were taken in 2004! The prices are even higher today.