Qajuqturvik Community Food Centre (QCFC) is officially open for business in Iqaluit.
“Today is about the launch of the [Inuliqtait] Country Food Box Program,” said executive director Joseph Murdoch-Flowers, who organized the food market and accompanying music from the Wilde Brothers on July 8, during the Alianait Festival. “It’s everything we’ve learned in our program, collecting what we’ve learned, and putting it together for others... At Qajaqturvik, we believe that adding to food sovereignty starts with the local economy, so we built this program to support that... because we know food equality and food insecurity mostly affects Inuit [in Nunavut]... we also know that their diet is mostly country food.”
The food box program runs on a “pay what you can” basis of contributing $12.50-$125 per box of assorted country foods distributed every Thursday at the Qajuqturvik Community Food Centre, across from NorthMart. Each box includes three to five selections of country food brought into Iqaluit from different hunters across the territory.
The QCFC works in partnership with Project Nunavut to maintain the network of local hunters from whom it gets its food supply directly, and is funded by the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor). Project Nunavut bills itself as "a social enterprise focused on for-profit and non-profit projects that improve the viability of the traditional economy in Nunavut."
The idea is to expand the network of hunters, fishers and suppliers across Nunavut, and the toolkit “is designed for community leaders in the North who work in government community groups, or other organizations. It is a guide for anyone who is interested in setting up a country food program that supports local hunters and provides a consistent supply of country food.”
“We know that there’s a demand for country food, and we know that there’s irregular access to it,” Murdoch Flowers explained. "By building up this network, we’re really building up access in a consistent and reliable way... we’re aware that there’s a sharing economy, but there are people living in Iqaluit who don’t have regular access to that. What this program does is give people a way to access [that].”
QCFC plans on using the centre as the site of a country food store in the near future, in addition to providing the boxes weekly. Those interested in learning more can email info@qajuqturvik.ca.
