Newfoundland and Labrador
Samantha Young, Leanna Butters
Introduction
Many residents of Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) live in rural, remote, or Northern communities. In 2021, the NL Statistics Agency reported a total population of 510,550 persons, of which, 53.2% were living in the Avalon Peninsula census division – the most densely populated region of the province.i We feel, however, that this regional delineation does not accurately describe the distribution of non-urban communities within NL. According to the Provincial Government, rural communities are those that are not located in the Northeast Avalon region which is where St. John’s, the capital city is placed. Our chapter uses the terms rural and remote interchangeably to represent communities outside of the St. John’s census metropolitan area (CMA), a region made up of 12 municipalities on the Avalon Peninsula. The St. John’s CMA represented 41.6% of the provincial population in 2021, suggesting that more than half of NL residents live in non-urban communities.ii Of course, rural and remote realities within the province vary and so the mix of challenges and opportunities presented by these lifestyles and livelihoods can differ greatly by region, as well as economic and cultural context.
Our chapter briefly explores current debates around transportation and food security in NL. Though rural communities have different characteristics, challenges, and strengths, there are two aspects that most have in common: long distances and low population densities.iii Within NL, these characteristics have significant implications for food access and distribution in both rural and urban communities. Similarly to other rural Canadian regions, NL is dependent on transportation for most of our food resources. With no railway shipping and limited public transit, transportation options are fewer when compared to other provinces within Canada.iv Instead, the province relies heavily on land and sea distribution via truck and boat to transport food to grocery stores.v For both urban and rural communities, there are extra steps required to ensure reliable food access. This is a truth that connects us all – the dependence on the boat. This reality and consequence of remoteness has made the benefits of cultivating local food sources all the clearer, as some food items would be more readily accessible and available to all residents if they were grown or harvested within the province.
The Western NL Food Hubvi has emerged as a collaborative, regional effort that is supporting the development of a more comprehensive food system with increased local focus. We present an overview of this initiative in the final portion of this chapter, and highlight it as a distribution model that is working within the constraints presented by long distances and low-density populations to improve food access in one region of rural NL.
Rural Realities
Shifting demographics, economies, and foodways
Historical foodways in NL were diverse and closely linked to community and regional cultures, lands, and waters. Before the turn of the 18th century, Dorset peoples relied on coastal, marine-derived proteins and Beothuk peoples relied on food harvested from the boreal and river ecosystems.vii Mi’kmaw communities on the island were sustained by locally- harvested foods, including eel and berries.viii Among Labrador’s Inuit and Innu, their country foods included caribou, birds, fish, and berries.ix Western settler activities and cultures have impacted the health and abundance of country foods over time, though it has not diminished their cultural and social significance.x,xi,xii Much of the settler population of NL, was historically found close to the shoreline in “outport” communities, with settlement patterns influenced by the cod fisheries. Pluralism has been described as a critical characteristic of traditional outport foodways in 18th-century Newfoundland. It included trading of fish and seal for imported essentials such as salt, flour, sugar, and tea, as well as subsistence farming, including a combination of animal and vegetable production.xiii
Presently, the province’s economies are increasingly distant from the ocean. Since the Cod Moratorium of 1992, NL residents have come to rely much more on sources of income that are not connected to the sea. The cod collapse and following moratorium put 19,000 fishers and fish plant workers out of work with an additional 26,000 indirect jobs being lost at the same time. This had a huge impact on the economy and culture of the province which can still be felt to this day.xiv As Greenwood writes, the economy pivoted by the 2010s to support oil and mineral-related activities in the wake of fishery and forestry closures. Changes in these traditional economic industries have impacted population dynamics as well. The number of rural residents in the province decreased by 6.4% between 2021 and 2016 due to outmigration of families from rural areas to be closer to services and amenities, including healthcare.xv
These economic shifts have resulted in cultural shifts as well, including to traditional foodways such as berry picking and hunting practices throughout the province. Increased engagement with the wage economy and fisheries decline have resulted in less access to local sources of protein and other food products and less subsistence farming.13 This trend has led to the continued and increasing dependence on products from across the globe and disruptions in the transmission of traditional knowledge on food and foodways.xvi Throughout colonization and the resource industry hardships of the province’s history, rural communities have continued to adapt their foodways and economies to thrive. In recent years, there has been a growth in interest to sustain at least a portion of the food needed to survive in NL. With that interest, economic opportunities have also grown, but still only coming to the surface when it comes to the local food system of the province.
Like any sector, agricultural development also encounters challenges and opportunities. The Government of NL considers agriculture to be a priority sector with “tremendous potential to contribute to economic growth and prosperity”.xvii While the number of farms in NL decreased by 20.2% between 2011 and 2016, food is still grown across the province. When considering local food being sold in NL in both urban and rural regions, not all is sold through grocery stores, it is sold through farm gate sales. For instance, in 2016, NL boasted the highest proportion of farms among all provinces that directly marketed their produce to local consumers, with products ranging from greenhouse/nursery products, vegetables, beef, dairy, and poultry.xviii
The opportunities presented by sustainable agriculture development and transitions to social enterprise models in NL are significant. Traditional foodways present a pathway to improve local food security and maintain cultural connections.xix Development of a more robust agriculture sector could improve access to meaningful local employment.xx Investing in value-added products could support niche commodities and open new markets for local businesses.xxi Though farm gate sales do not make up the majority of food sales in NL, it is clear that there is an appetite among some residents in purchasing locally produced foods and value-added products.18
Transportation of people, food and products throughout the province
Reliable and comprehensive transportation options can improve food access, especially in rural regions.4 NL has few ways people or products can reach the province, which presents a challenge for food security. These options include the Marine Atlantic Ferries, which dock both on the West Coast of the island at Port aux Basques and on the East Coast of the island in Argentia. For the Labrador portion of the province, goods arrive either by small plane or by truck from Quebec depending on the season, but there are few paved roads that connect Labrador communities to imported foods overall.xxii
As a result, conversations surrounding the transportation of goods, people and perishable food, in particular, have continued to be an issue for decision makers in recent years.xxiii As the costs of fuel and most necessities steadily rise, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians continue to become more aware of the minimal impact of each dollar. With few options for public transport throughout the province, moving people is another challenge often referred to in conversations surrounding rurality.xxiv Minimal transportation options for individuals within their communities or from community to community poses challenges to even access grocery stores or convenience stores.
Connections to Health and Healthcare
There is a deep connection between health and diet, and this connection includes the relationship between the community burden of preventable disease and the availability of nutritious diets that fulfill individuals’ needs.25 xxvNL has the highest healthcare expenditure of any province in Canada, and the 4th highest expenditure after the three territories.5 At $10,333 per person spent in NL, the need to minimize the costs of healthcare cannot be over-represented. As cost of living and cost of food continues to increase, food can often be one of the only malleable costs of a household, causing people to make food choices based more on cost and less on nutrition.xxvi
While these concerns are not just for rural regions of the province, they are felt more intensely with the additional costs associated with getting food to these regions. Transportation costs and possible supply chain disruptions due to issues like climate change have an intense influence on the choices and decisions made by rural residents.xxvii While there will always be a dependence on food from throughout the country as well as around the world, there is space within the food system for more local options to fill gaps within the market system. One social enterprise which has begun to try to offer an additional stream for purchasing local and nutritious food is the Western NL Food Hub.
Best Practice Case Study: Western NL Food Hub
Online Shopping, Local Food, is the headline at the Western NL Food Hub. The Food Hub is a social enterprise run by Food First NL, a province-wide non-profit which focuses on a mission to advance everyone’s right to food throughout NL. Their goal is to help get local food on every plate. They state that:
We believe in a province where everyone can eat with joy and dignity. This includes creating easier access to local food and supporting food producers so they can thrive. It also means strengthening our food systems and, as a result, our communities.xxviii
The Western NL Food Hub aims to be part of that work. The Food Hub supports the needs of farmers while also giving customers the opportunity to build relationships with the people who grow their food. The Food Hub runs out of Corner Brook, the largest center on the west coast of the island with a population of 19,695 people. Most of the food sold at the Western NL Food Hub is grown between 50-150 km away from the city in some of the most fertile agricultural land in the province.
The Food Hub seeks to offer local products in the most accessible format possible. Customers can go online and order products from approximately 35 different regional producers. Each week, producers identify the goods they have available. Once online, customers can select any item from the lists provided into their cart and confirm their order before midnight on Monday. Once the ordering period closes, a pick list goes out to each of the producers with all the items which had been ordered for the week. Producers then harvest, bake, or pack up according to this list. A courier service picks up all products right from each producer’s location on Wednesdays and delivers them to the Food Hub in Corner Brook. Staff pack each customer’s order to be picked up on Thursday. This process establishes a tangible relationship between consumers, food items, and the producers of the food.
The Food Hub addresses several of the challenges and opportunities raised earlier when it comes to provisioning of local food in rural NL. This includes transportation over long distances within low-density regions. While local food is not as accessible in grocery stores, there are still many people who choose to travel to farms and get fresh, local produce. These people who have an interest in purchasing local products have told the Food Hub that they would drive the 20 to 40 min to different farms once a week to go pick up local produce straight from farm gate stalls. While this does build stronger relationships between consumers and the producers of their goods, it also increases carbon emissions and makes acquiring local food less efficient or inaccessible for families without private vehicles. The Food Hub minimizes these challenges by bringing the local products into the center of Corner Brook and establishing a local customer base.
Items at the Food Hub vary depending on producer, growing season, and interest of community members. The Food Hub’s first full calendar year of operation was in 2023 after a 4-month pilot in 2021. They carry products such as beef, chicken, lamb, fish, root vegetables, leafy greens, edible flowers, cheese, juices, eggs, seasonal fruits, berries, seafood, baked goods, jams, jellies, pickles, and other sauces, as well as locally roasted coffee and teas. The diversity of food options subverts a long-held belief that only root vegetables can grow in the province, as people continue to see the variety of products available. It is hoped that improved access to these diverse food items will continue to be a paradigm shift in the general population’s opinion of what can and cannot be grown locally. This model also provides easier access to traditional food items that are culturally significant, like turnip greens and salted cod, which is helping to maintain traditional foodways.
The Western NL Food Hub model is based on the Cape Breton Food Hub in Nova Scotia, which also supports a population over a large geographical area.xxix This model has been adapted to suit the local needs of Western Newfoundland and the Humber Valley.
As the Food Hub continues to grow and thrive by addressing the needs of the communities surrounding it, there is an intention to offer pick-up locations in another five communities in western NL which will offer the same varieties of products. This will further lower the barriers to local products throughout the western region. The Western NL Food Hub hopes to become a permanent and reliable space for the growth of the local food industry throughout the western region. Given the value that it is providing in western NL, it is possible that this flexible model may be adapted to support food security needs in other rural and remote areas.
Conclusion: The Future of Rural/Remote in NL
Provisioning local food reliably in rural and remote regions of NL is a substantial undertaking. In western Newfoundland, the Western NL Food Hub seeks to address the challenge of transportation across long distances in low-density regions while supporting a local food culture in Corner Brook. Other challenges, such as providing fresh food items year-round, maintaining access to culturally significant foods (including country foods) in a changing climate, and growing agriculture as a viable economic business option, remain. Still, the existence of the Food Hub is a testament to how collaborative, socially motivated actions can generate creative thinking and action on the topic of food security. As is the case in regions across Canada,xxx rural and remote places continue to contribute to the sustainability of the NL in meaningful ways. Innovative models, like the Food Hub, may help extend this potential.