Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 1, 2022, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B5 S ALAD days have arrived for many Churchill residents now that Rock-et Greens is doing home delivery of its locally grown produce. It’s quite the change from the expen- sive and often wilting greens residents here were used to after their lengthy trip on rail or the pricey fare that’s sometimes flown in to the small com- munity on the shores of Hudson Bay. The hydroponic vegetable operation, called Rocket Greens, is operated by the Churchill Northern Studies Centre (CNSC) and its latest $20,000 grant from Churchill Region Economic Development (CRED) fund helped the group acquire its own van to make weekly deliveries of its produce. Dylan McCart, the executive direc- tor of the CNSC, said the non-profit’s research organization is just about breaking even from the operation. “We definitely don’t make huge reve- nues from the operation,” he said. The selection of produce that is now available year round provides an option to the extremely expensive cost of shipping produce — that is often wilt- ing and quickly rotting — like lettuce, arugula, kale and herbs that Rocket Greens grows. Lettuce can cost as much $7.50 in Churchill. Since 2017 Rocket Greens has grown more than 60,000 pieces and now has about 50 weekly subscribers for its $10 or $20 box of that week’s produce that include five-to-10 items. It also distributes to grocery stores and restaurants and to the CNSC own cafeteria operation. Like any new technology — and Churchill’s was the first installation of the turnkey shipping container unit, called Growcer, developed by a compa- ny out of Ottawa — it took some time to work out the kinks. The grow op in Churchill received one of the last bits of funding from the $7 million CRED fund that was estab- lished just prior to the rail outage in the spring of 2017. The CRED fund also helped with a $200,000 grant to fund the original acquisition. Carley Basler, CNSC’s sustainability co-ordinator, has become a bit of an advocate for the Growcer and has talk- ed extensively with folks in Norway House who also acquired a unit (which also received funding from the CRED.) Basler said, “The communications I have done with other communities started organically. Sharing our suc- cesses and challenges is an important part of operating the first Growcer in Canada. It felt important to talk openly about how it really is.” Jason Denbow, the executive director of Community Futures, the organiza- tion that runs the CRED, said Basler blazed the trail in terms of making the thing work in the frigid temperatures of northern Manitoba winters. “She was initially told it could be transported up and plunked down and it would work,” Denbow said. “But nothing is that simple especially in the climate of Churchill.” It did work but McCart said it was mostly thanks to Basler. Basler said that while Rocket Greens struggles to break even, it has not raised its prices in four years to ensure that it remains affordable for the com- munity. Unlike the sophisticated food deliv- ery operations that have proliferated in the cities during the pandemic, Basler said starting the subscription service was not really that hard. “Churchill’s pretty small,” she said. “Everyone literally knows everyone else.” As small as Churchill is, the CNSC is 23 kilometres outside of town and while the centre does have its own fleet of vehicles they were proving to be unre- liable to get the produce into town. “We are a non-profit and we have had our own difficulties over the last couple of years and the centre itself is running a deficit,” McCart said. “Our vehicles are all used and not very gently used.” The new van is equipped to handle the produce and prevent it from freez- ing on the trip into town. The fact that the project addresses the well-known food security issues, made it attractive to the CRED when it began in late 2016. Denbow said when the rail line went out of service in May 2017 — and stayed out of service for 18 months — the fund had to pivot in its mandate. “We shifted from long term eco- nomic development to how to get short term support in place to keep business- es up and running so the there was something there to conduct economic development when the rail was back,” Denbow said. He said Rocket Greens was a great example of the kind of project they were looking for initially. In fact the CRED also funded another version of an indoor vegetable growing operation that Opaskwayak Cree Nation deployed before Rocket Greens. OCN uses a technology from South Korea. Although the CRED is now fully expended, Denbow said Community Futures — whose main function is to provide loans for business people in its various regions — still has plenty of means to support businesses in the north through its office in Thompson. martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca BUSINESS BUSINESS EDITOR: SHANE MINKIN 204-697-7308 ● BUSINESS@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM B5 TUESDAY MARCH 1, 2022 Cost of living crushing Manitobans’ spirit: poll OVER half of Manitobans say they can’t keep up with the cost of living, accord- ing to a new Angus Reid Institute poll released Monday. “I think there is a bit of concern that in the coming months and even years (the number of) people struggling fi- nancially… (will) increase,” said Na- than Bell, a licensed insolvency trustee with Grant Thornton Limited. Nearly 60 per cent of the province’s 122 respondents said they couldn’t man- age an unexpected expense exceeding $1,000. Canada’s inflation rate surpassed five per cent, on a year-over-year basis, in January — its the highest jump in three decades, according to Statistics Cana- da. Bell, who works with people and busi- nesses managing debt, said he hasn’t seen an increase of insolvencies yet — but, it could be because of a number of factors, including pandemic-era gov- ernment support. “(The future is) really just going to be dependent upon things like inflation,” Bell said. Gas and food prices are emptying people’s wallets, he noted. “The other thing on the horizon, of course, is (higher) interest rates,” he said. “(That) will impact a lot of people who are carrying debt.” As a result, Manitobans have made lifestyle changes. Fifty-eight per cent of the province’s poll respondents said they’d cut discretionary spending. “Non-necessity items are the first things to go,” said Shaun Jeffrey, the Manitoba Restaurant and Foodservices Association’s CEO. He listed dining and entertainment as those impacted. “We’re just starting our recovery,” Jeffrey said. “Part of a successful re- covery for our industry is a full engage- ment and re-engagement from Manito- bans. Any deviation from that is going to be just detrimental.” Restaurateurs are facing cost in- creases for supplies and need an influx in business, Jeffrey said. The timeline for returning to normal will elongate if eateries see a slow return of patrons, he said. Forty-eight per cent of Manitobans reported delaying major purchases, while 35 per cent touted driving less, said Angus Reid’s poll. “Seeing the gas prices here, it blows my mind,” said Jasmine Ings, who was shopping at Walmart’s Winnipeg West supercentre Monday. Ings, 24, thinks twice before hopping in her car. She’s stopped buying sham- poo bottles — there are cheaper bars online, she said — and scours the aisles for low-priced food items. “I avoid certain products, for sure,” she said. “If I’ve noticed they went up in price, I just kind of boycott it, or I’ll go to another store that I know is cheaper.” Debbie Brotherston’s diet now in- cludes less red meat. “A lot of stuff, I just don’t buy it if it’s (too expensive),” she said. Her daughter doesn’t have as much money for fun activities with the kids because gas and food eat up most of the cash, Brotherston said. Money is a source of stress for 70 per cent of Canadians, the Angus Reid Institute poll found. Forty-six per cent of Manitobans said they have too much debt, and 40 per cent reported being wor- ried for themselves or a household mem- ber losing their job due to the economy. “Insecurity over employment has been an undercurrent running through some regions of the country far more than others,” Shachi Kurl, Angus Reid Institute’s president, wrote in an email. “Notable on the prairies (is) angst over the future of Canada’s resource economy.” Women, people aged 35 to 54 and those who earn less than $50,000 a year were among the most concerned about keeping up with the cost of living, Kurl said. Families and seniors with fixed in- comes are among those to take infla- tion’s hardest hits, Grant Thornton’s Bell said. “I think really having a budget and understanding what your monthly cost to live (is), I think (is) really step one,” he said. From there, Manitobans can break down how much they spend on items and look for places to cut costs. “The nice thing about the digital world is you can shop around quite easily,” Bell said, adding people can search for banks that provide no-fee accounts. Twenty-six per cent of Manitobans deferred or stopped contributing to their RRSP or TFSA accounts, Angus Reid Institute’s poll found. Getting help when needed is import- ant, Bell said, adding he and others pro- vide free consultations on finances. Manitoba MP Daniel Blaikie is point- ing to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the reason for people’s worries of falling behind inflation. “While Canadians are losing all the wiggle room in their budgets, the ul- tra-wealthy continue to benefit from special tax rules allowing them to legal- ly avoid paying their fair share,” Blaik- ie, the federal NDP’s finance critic, said in a news release. “There are things the Liberals could do to reduce the stress on Canadians’ monthly budget, but they are choosing instead not to act,” Blaikie said. Angus Reid Institute conducted its online survey from Feb. 11 to 13, with 1,622 respondents. The margin of error is +/- 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. gabrielle.piche@freepress.mb.ca GABRIELLE PICHÉ Nearly 60 per cent couldn’t handle an unexpected expense exceeding $1,000 Salad Days in Churchill MARTIN CASH Rocket Greens is now delivering its locally grown produce to residents on the shore of Hudson Bay SUPPLIED PHOTOS Carley Basler, sustainability co-ordinator at the Churchill Northern Studies Centre. Rocket Greens now has its own van to deliver locally grown produce to residents of Churchill. It grows its produce hydroponically, above. B_05_Mar-01-22_FP_01.indd 5 2022-02-28 8:36 PM ;