For many residents of Gjoa Haven, a remote Inuit hamlet situated on a vast, windswept island deep within the Canadian Arctic, the concept of gardening or nurturing plants was entirely foreign. Betty Kogvik was no exception.
In this northern community, long winters plunge the land into weeks of complete darkness. Even during the brief summers, plants like shrubs hug the tundra floor, barely emerging as ice and snow retreat. Trees, as we know them, are a distant memory, hundreds of miles away on the Canadian mainland, where only the hardiest, thinnest spruces survive.
Yet, against all odds, Ms. Kogvik now proudly cultivates an impressive array of produce year-round. Her bounty includes luscious strawberries, crisp carrots, vibrant broccoli, sweet bell peppers, delicate microgreens, juicy tomatoes, and a variety of other fruits and vegetables.
“I had absolutely no knowledge of plants before,” shared Ms. Kogvik, an Inuit woman, like the majority of Canada’s Arctic inhabitants. “Now, I’m thrilled to say I have a green thumb!”
Ms. Kogvik’s workplace is a revolutionary high-tech greenhouse, an oasis of cultivation producing fresh, local food that is a first for this remote region. Within insulated shipping containers, deliberately shielded from the harsh exterior, plants thrive under artificial lights in a hydroponic and soil-based system, sustained by consistent heating throughout the year.
(Image: The expansive, shrub-dotted landscape of Gjoa Haven during its short summer, emphasizing the vast, treeless tundra.)
This innovative greenhouse project holds immense promise. Researchers envision it as a vital alternative to the expensive, perishable produce currently air-shipped from southern Canadian cities. More importantly, it aims to foster a healthier diet for the Inuit, the Indigenous people who have called Canada’s Arctic home for centuries.
Historically, the nomadic Inuit adapted to their environment by subsisting on raw meat and fish, naturally obtaining the nutrients absent from a plant-scarce landscape. This dietary resilience stands in stark contrast to the fate of many early European Arctic explorers, like members of the ill-fated Franklin expedition near Gjoa Haven, whose tragic ends were often linked to a severe lack of essential vitamins during their quest for the fabled Northwest Passage.
Today, many Inuit communities, including Gjoa Haven, find themselves navigating a complex intersection of traditional and Western diets. Following their forced relocation into hamlets by the Canadian government in the 1960s, a more sedentary lifestyle and reliance on local supermarkets have led to rising rates of obesity and the highest levels of food insecurity across Canada. For Gjoa Haven’s approximately 1,500 residents, the high cost and often poor quality of fresh produce at the two local stores have been a persistent challenge.
(Image: Betty Kogvik diligently tends to plants inside the state-of-the-art greenhouse, a place now providing the region with its first taste of local, fresh produce.)
(Image: A glimpse inside one of the insulated shipping containers, revealing rows of thriving plants nurtured by artificial lights and a sophisticated soil and water system.)
(Image: Ms. Kogvik inspects the outdoor experimental setups at the Gjoa Haven greenhouse, highlighting the project’s research component.)
Motivated by these challenges, several years ago, the elders of Gjoa Haven approached researchers at the Arctic Research Foundation, a Canadian private organization, expressing a keen interest in establishing a greenhouse. Having previously collaborated with the community on the discovery of one of the sunken Franklin ships in 2016, the foundation was eager to foster an ongoing partnership.
In 2019, the project took root. Shipping containers were strategically placed on a hill outside the village, a site carefully chosen by the elders. These containers, ingeniously repurposed into a greenhouse and named “Naurvik” — “the growing place” in Inuit — are powered by a sustainable mix of wind turbines, solar panels, and a diesel generator for backup.
For many Inuit, whose lives had offered no prior exposure to plant cultivation, working at Naurvik initially sparked apprehension. Ms. Kogvik vividly recalled her panic when the foundation’s researchers departed after setting up the facility in 2019.
“I warned them, ‘Prepare to hear me screaming and shouting in a few days, because every single plant will be dead!’” she recounted with a laugh. “Yet, just two weeks later, I was harvesting a thriving crop.”
(Image: Enthusiastic children from the Gjoa Haven community visit the Naurvik greenhouse project, showcasing its impact on the younger generation.)
Now, Ms. Kogvik, a seasoned expert, mentors new recruits such as 35-year-old Kyle Aglukkaq. He remembered being captivated by an episode about plants on “The Magic School Bus” as a child. However, growing up without any plants nearby, he had long believed them to be incredibly delicate and fragile.
“It turns out, you don’t have to be quite so careful,” Mr. Aglukkaq observed, surprised.
“You can even rough them up a bit!” Ms. Kogvik chimed in, smiling.
Together, they meticulously cared for a diverse range of vegetables and fruits flourishing in both soil and hydroponic systems across the shelves of the two shipping containers.
“Look at this magnificent strawberry,” Ms. Kogvik exclaimed, carefully holding a vibrant red fruit. “These are so much sweeter and more flavorful than the sad, old ones you find in stores.”
That same afternoon, Ms. Kogvik diligently packaged an assortment of fresh greens into sandwich bags, destined for the hamlet’s community center. The greenhouse generously donates its harvest to the community’s elders and the dedicated members of its search and rescue team.
(Image: An expansive aerial view showcases the stark, beautiful terrain surrounding Gjoa Haven, highlighting its remote Arctic location.)
(Image: A close-up of the solar panels, integral to powering the sustainable greenhouse project.)
(Image: The rugged and serene Arctic tundra landscape near Gjoa Haven, a testament to its unique environment.)
Currently, the Naurvik greenhouse operates as both a modest production facility and a vital research center, partly funded by the Canadian Space Agency. Since its inception in 2019, the project has incurred costs of approximately 5 million Canadian dollars (about $3.6 million USD) for construction and operation, as stated by Tom Henheffer, CEO of the Arctic Research Foundation.
However, Mr. Henheffer anticipates a significant expansion over the next three years, with the greenhouse transitioning to full-scale production. The foundation firmly believes that this initiative, combined with a local processing facility for other Indigenous products like Arctic char, can establish economic sustainability for Gjoa Haven and other Inuit communities.
Furthermore, the foundation aims to qualify for a federal program that currently subsidizes retailers for shipping healthy perishable goods from southern Canada to northern communities.
“Imagine,” Mr. Henheffer proposed, “instead of funds going to southern grocers, that money could directly support community members here, who are growing fresh food locally.”
(Image: The exterior of “The Northern” grocery store in Gjoa Haven, one of two such establishments serving the community.)
At the Co-op, one of Gjoa Haven’s two supermarkets, 28-year-old Hailey Okpik shopped with her 6-month-old daughter comfortably nestled on her back. Her grocery haul, comprising milk, fruits, vegetables, and prepared meals – enough to feed her family of six for a week – amounted to a staggering 914 Canadian dollars, or approximately $660 USD.
“Prices are identical at both supermarkets,” Ms. Okpik noted, explaining her preference for the Co-op due to its community ownership.
While the majority of goods reach Gjoa Haven via an annual sealift, fresh produce and other delicate perishables are a different story, flown in weekly from northern Manitoba.
During the brutal Arctic winters, with temperatures plummeting to minus 40 Fahrenheit, fresh produce can freeze and spoil in mere minutes during the journey from the airport to the supermarket. Moussa Ndiaye, the Co-op’s manager for the past three years, described the challenges: “In winter, bananas freeze almost instantly. Sometimes, entire watermelons arrive completely solid. We have no choice but to discard them immediately.”
The exorbitant cost of transportation, coupled with the limited scale of retail operations in Arctic communities, inevitably inflates prices at the checkout. Duane Wilson, a vice president at the Winnipeg-based Arctic Co-ops (an umbrella organization for local co-ops in the region), attributes the high costs to these factors, although critics often accuse the supermarkets themselves of overcharging.
(Image: This stark visual represents the challenging reality in Nunavut, where 60% of the population, including communities like Gjoa Haven, face severe food insecurity due to financial constraints.)
(Image: Moussa Ndiaye, the dedicated manager of the Co-op grocery shop in Gjoa Haven, stands as a central figure in the community’s food supply.)
(Image: A scene from Gjoa Haven’s grocery store, underscoring the challenges of food access and affordability in remote Arctic communities.)
Regardless of the underlying causes, the consequence is severe: nearly 60 percent of residents in Nunavut—a vast Canadian territory encompassing small northern communities such as Gjoa Haven—are financially unable to purchase sufficient quantities of quality food. This makes Nunavut’s food insecurity rate the highest in Canada, more than double the national average across its ten provinces, according to government data.
It’s important to remember that Gjoa Haven, much like other Indigenous communities, transitioned from a traditional nomadic lifestyle just a few generations ago.
Tony Akoak, 67, a representative for the hamlet in Nunavut’s legislature, shared his childhood memories of a diet rich in animals and fish, all harvested by his father. Yet, he never acquired these traditional hunting and fishing skills himself—a trend increasingly common among younger Inuit generations.
“Many younger people simply go to the store and buy junk food,” Mr. Akoak lamented.
Despite these challenges, Mr. Akoak remains hopeful. He believes that with continued support from the Canadian government, the greenhouse can significantly expand, eventually supplying fresh produce to a large portion of Gjoa Haven’s residents. Reflecting on the dramatic changes in his own lifetime, he expressed astonishment that fruits and vegetables are now being cultivated year-round in such a harsh environment.
“It proves that anything can truly grow here,” he concluded, “as long as it’s cared for with the right attention.”
(Image: Thriving plants cultivated within the climate-controlled environment of one of the repurposed shipping containers, demonstrating the success of Naurvik.)