North of 60: Tomatoes

Many, many moons ago, I was a fan of Fred Astaire (real name: Frederick Austerlitz). I loved his musicals. He had a duet with Ginger Rogers (real name: Virginia McMath). “You say Potatoe, I say Potato. You say Tomatoe, I say Tomato…”

Nowhere in the song does it say $5.19 per tomato, but North of 60, it's a sale!

$5.19 per tomato and it's a sale. Food is very expensive in the Arctic. All fresh food needs to be flown in.iqaluit-20120611-0332.jpg — ©2012 Syv Ritch -- foto-biz.com: http://www.foto-biz.com/usageterms
Tomatoes $5.19 Each   click on image for gallery

Iqaluit is a very isolate place:

  1. It's in the Eastern Arctic. Nunavut, the territory (the equivalent of a state) spans three time-zones.
  2. There is no road in or out. The nearest city is 2000km/1300 miles south by air.
  3. Iqaluit is on Frobisher Bay, but now it's mid-June and the ice is still melting. Could an icebreaker go through it? For sure, the ice is only 2 to 4 feet thick. The ice should be completely melted by mid-July to the end of July. All large items like construction supplies, pickup trucks, ATVs, Skidoo... are shipped by containers between July and September and sometime in October, the Frobisher Bay will start to freeze again.
  4. All “fresh food” has to be flown in. There are only two airlines flying in... Flights depend on the weather. The main factors are the winds and the fog.