Green Energy-Powered Greenhouse Provides Fresh Produce to Remote Northern Community
Fresh fruits and vegetables can be hard to find in Northern Canada. In Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, however, modern technology combined with local labour is bringing fresh, nutritious food to this remote community.
In Nunavut, almost 70 percent of the population experiences food insecurity, the inability to access enough food, according to Food Secure Canada. Northern latitudes are limited by a short growing season, making it challenging to grow crops. To deliver food from further south, communities may rely on a summer boat shipment or pricier airplane deliveries, escalating costs for even the most basic grocery items, sometimes ten times the cost of the same food in other areas of Canada. The shipping distances and limited deliveries mean fresh produce may not be available year-round, even at a higher cost, so residents tend to rely on non-perishable foods that can last a year between ship deliveries.
Hoping to solve this lack of fresh food, the not-for-profit Arctic Research Foundation partnered with Gjoa Haven elders. They created a research station to test innovative greenhouse technology. A pair of shipping containers sits atop a hill near the community where it picks up wind power, augmented by solar panels and a backup generator if needed, providing artificial light and warmth to the compact greenhouse, even on the shortest, darkest winter days.
Inside grows a rarity for this snow-bound town: fresh lettuce and cherry tomatoes. Locally-hired technicians tend the precious crops as temperatures dip below -30 Celsius and beyond.
The project has already paid off for local residents. One elder danced for joy when she tasted fresh lettuce, a vegetable usually close to spoiled by the time it makes it up to the local store.
With promising results so far, project technicians plan to try cloud berry, blueberry, and other local plants in a few months, helping residents access medicinal plants beyond the short summer growing season. Technicians will also visit another Nunavut community to help kickstart a similar agricultural project there.
As the Arctic Research Foundation gains insight into the most efficient ways to grow food in this extreme environment, they plan to use their findings in other communities, and even in space. Looking beyond providing locals with fresh food, the Foundation also sees potential for larger-scale greenhouses that export food to other communities and maybe even further south. Not only will the local community gain access to fresh, nutritious food, they will achieve an economic boost with local jobs.
Gardening at temperatures well below freezing may have seemed strange to residents at first, but this project is helping prove the technology works. As one local elder put it, “Now I know that anything is possible.”
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Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.
