Remote reservations experience poverty differently than most
Four years ago, I was on a flight to a remote First Nations reservation in Manitoba. In the space where there used to be a passenger seat next to the pilot were stacked 432 boxes of potato chips. In the rear cargo space were hundreds more. They were being flown to this reservation, a mere two-hour flight north of Winnipeg on Lake Winnipeg, to the community store, owned by a large national company. The regular passenger fare on that flight was approximately $350.00. It was more profitable for the airline to send the snacks than to take a person!
But the real point is the cost to the consumer of these snacks. Due to the light weight, the grocery store felt it could justify shipping junk food to the reserve by air. In 1986, the Berens River and Poplar River reservoirs were serviced, in the summer, by a barge carrying goods and vehicles along Lake Winnipeg. That helped reduce fuel shipping costs (diesel for generators, gasoline for trucks). However, that barge stopped working some years later. That only left winter highway and air cargo supply lines. Both were exceptionally expensive. In 2018, most of the East Road was completed, connecting those two First Nations communities to the outside world. Still, even on these accessible reservations, the cost of food remains exceptionally high.
One of the false claims made by many people unfamiliar with the high cost of food in remote First Nations communities is that “we” are giving them too much and the money they get is more than they need. Those people also often point to the high incidence of obesity and diabetes as proof that First Nations people in these communities are choosing to live an unhealthy, indolent and indulgent lifestyle. However, the reality is the polar opposite (no pun intended) for northern communities like Berens River.
Some of the cheapest food items in the Berens River stores are snack foods like chips and chocolate bars. These are also the cheapest to ship to the community and represent some of the cheapest food. Then there is a relative cost. A four-liter container of milk costs four times more than a two-liter container of soda. The refreshment provides instant energy and a feeling of satiety. Same with the chips and chocolate bars. And, snacks don’t require refrigeration in homes that often don’t have a working refrigerator.
As a consequence, the diet of many of the residents consists of junk food, which leads to obesity and disease.
While a typical grocery basket can cost $146 in Winnipeg in 2018, for example, it was $366 in Berens River. All other costs of living are equally disproportionate. So if a typical family of six, living on the poverty line in Winnipeg, needs $53,000 per year to survive, that same family in Berens River would need $133,000 per year!
It is this disconnect that many of us have between our world and our perception of how we compare to others that limits our ability to empathize with those in dire circumstances, such as those in our First Nations communities. Poverty is not a phenomenon exclusive to underdeveloped countries. It exists right here in our own backyard, and we don’t have to fly far to experience it.