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| Israel Mablick, an Inuk father of five who can’t afford food to feed his family, looks shows the sparse selection inside his fridge. CP |
Steve Rennie The Canadian Press
Israel Mablick opens the door of his refrigerator and takes stock of its meagre offerings.
“This is all we have for food,” he says, gesturing to the mostly empty shelves.
There is a small pot of leftover seal meat on the second shelf, next to a tub of margarine and a couple of slices of bread. There’s juice, a bag of milk, some water and a carton of eggs, plus condiments and a small bag of shredded cheese.
In his freezer, there are a few bags of frozen vegetables next to a carton of Chapman’s ice cream. Two cereal boxes — Corn Pops and Corn Flakes — are the only items in one of his cupboards.
“That’s all we have,” Mablick says, “and there’s six kids.”
The 36-year-old Inuit man shares a small, two-bedroom Iqaluit apartment with his wife and their five kids, his mother, his sister and his young nephew. His is the face of hunger in Nunavut, the bare cupboards and empty fridge emblematic of a long-standing problem that even today’s government programs don’t address.
The federal government’s $60-million food subsidy, Nutrition North, is only the latest of the proposed solutions that has stumbled under mismanagement and the enormity of the hunger problem.
“This is all we have for food,” he says, gesturing to the mostly empty shelves.
There is a small pot of leftover seal meat on the second shelf, next to a tub of margarine and a couple of slices of bread. There’s juice, a bag of milk, some water and a carton of eggs, plus condiments and a small bag of shredded cheese.
In his freezer, there are a few bags of frozen vegetables next to a carton of Chapman’s ice cream. Two cereal boxes — Corn Pops and Corn Flakes — are the only items in one of his cupboards.
“That’s all we have,” Mablick says, “and there’s six kids.”
The 36-year-old Inuit man shares a small, two-bedroom Iqaluit apartment with his wife and their five kids, his mother, his sister and his young nephew. His is the face of hunger in Nunavut, the bare cupboards and empty fridge emblematic of a long-standing problem that even today’s government programs don’t address.
The federal government’s $60-million food subsidy, Nutrition North, is only the latest of the proposed solutions that has stumbled under mismanagement and the enormity of the hunger problem.