The Latest Yellowknife Organics List
May 1st, 2006Here is the current version of my Yellowknife Organic Products List (last updated April 18, 2006).
May 3/2006: The Co-op is in the middle of reorganizing its shelves and has added some new organic products. I will update the list asap.
April 2007: I have stopped updating this list as the Co-op has agreed to distribute a list of all their organic items from the member service counter. Eventually, it may also be on-line. The organic products at Extra Foods are listed here.
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Hi,
Im considering moving to Yellowknife for employment. One of my bigger issues with moving that far north is the question of food. Im a veg and figured that most people are eating caribou, fish and prepackaged-processed foods. Your site has given me confidence that my view may be incorrect. Organic products aside, Id like to ask the following. How is Yellowknife for fresh produce? Especially in the winter months? Also, are there any greenhouses in the area that produce things like toms and cucs?
Thanks
Jeremy
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Fresh produce is readily available here all year round. There is a period of a few weeks in the late fall and again in the early spring when the Mackenzie river ferry cannot run and the ice road crossing isn’t ready. During that time, the grocery stores sometimes get low on certain items. Otherwise, the supply of fresh fruits and veggies is comparable to southern stores. The prices are slightly higher (perhaps 10-20%), but the selection isn’t too bad.
Because of the extra shipping distance, produce bought here probably has a slightly shorter shelf life but we don’t generally notice.
Unfortunately, there is no commercial market garden or hothouse operation in Yellowknife. Every spring, a couple of greenhouses open up to supply bedding plants, but that is as close as we get. Inuvik has a community greenhouse which would be a great model for Yellowknife, but so far nobody has managed to get anything started.
I hope that helps. I feel pretty confident in saying that any reasonable vegan or vegetarian could survive here without too much inconvenience.
Good luck. Yellowknife is a great place to live, so I hope you will seriously consider coming up here.
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[...] When I started my survey of organic products available in Yellowknife, I was very surprised at how many prepared baking mixes there are out there. I can’t always find organic raisins or bread, but I have a choice of more than a dozen organic cake, muffin, and cookie mixes. [...]
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Kevin:
I had assumed that YVES and Schneiders veggie products were organic but after a close look at the label I decided to play with their minds a little, and sent the following email to both. I’ll let you know what comes back!
Bryan
Hello:
I have been very impressed with your products. You specifically point out the Soy content of your vegetarian ‘meat substitutes’, but a group of us were wondering about the lack of information concerning the soybean source. Since 81% of the North American market in Soybeans is Genetically Modified, and you don’t explicitly state “Organic” or “non-GM” can I assume you are using Round-up Ready Soybeans?
If so I am surprised that you don’t mention it. The benefits of ‘No Plow’ tillage, which greatly reduce soil erosion, are well known, and I would have thought you would have pointed this out. It bothers me that companies use bioengineering yet stay suspiciously quiet on their packaging.
I was trained as a biochemist/microbiologist so it bothers me that after ten years of proven production why is there no mention of “transgenic” or, indeed any mention of the soybean source?
Bryan Swansburg
Yellowknife
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[...] We can’t claim a lot of progress so far, but we are working on a couple of things. We have started compiling a list of organic products (with the co-operation of co-op staff) with shelf locations. We hope this will help people to find the organic alternatives to in various categories, plus show us where the gaps are. This project sort of fits in with my Yellowknife Organics List, though prices are not going to be included. In addition, I wrote a very short introduction to organic foods for the Co-op newsletter. Christa is researching reusable alternatives to disposable shopping bags. [...]