COUPLE SHOWS $215 GROCERY HAUL IN THE ARCTIC

A couple living in a remote community in northern Canada has gone viral for showing the extreme cost of groceries in the Arctic. In a TikTok posted by user Willow Allen (@willow.allen), she shows a regular trip to the grocery store with her husband Cale.

The first item shown is a bag of tangerines for a whopping $16.99 CAD, or $12.50 USD. A container of blueberries is listed at $7.35 USD; a frozen pizza is $12.50 USD.

She then shows a shelf with several 35oz containers of Nutella, priced at $35 USD. A jar of peanut butter? $12.50.

A 2017 study found that a basket of groceries cost, on average, $7.51 more on Indigenous reservations than in other areas. This is worsened by the fact that many reservations are classified as food deserts. Because of this, many believe that the higher prices are an example of price gouging.

She explains that growing up, her family spent $6,000 a month on groceries and that the cost of food has only increased since then. “Given how expensive groceries are in the North, it’s crazy to me how people tell us not to hunt,” she says in her video. “We’re doing what we can to survive and be self-sustaining.”