Redefining Agricultural Resiliency in the Arctic

Above the Arctic Circle the sun shines down 24 hours a day in the summer. And one hot summer in 2016, in a sweltering community greenhouse, a lone Autumn Delight apple tree produced its first harvest of fruit. Can an apple be resilient? The “Arctic Delight” apple is, and so is the Inuvik Community Greenhouse where it grows.  

Executive Director, Ray Solotki, raffled the first batch of these apples, which the community named after its region, and used the money fundraised to add two more apple trees. This gumption is evident in every aspect of the Inuvik Community Greenhouse, a greenhouse built within an old hockey arena that was slated for demolition. Through the efforts of local community members, the arena was transformed and the community greenhouse has been around for 20 years. Ray says you can still see the puck marks on the wall.  

“Those who can't afford [food] are the first ones on my list,” says Executive Director of the Inuvik Community Greenhouse, Ray Solotki.

Since the Inuvik Community Greenhouse’s first growing season, it’s served as a model for agricultural resiliency for other communities in the Northwest Territories. The 18,000 square foot greenhouse is divided into two sections: raised community garden plots on the main floor that are rented out by community members and a commercial greenhouse on the second floor  to help cover operation and management costs. A number of the garden plots are also sponsored for senior homes, food banks, group homes and other local charities. And a raised garden plot was known to produce enough potatoes to last a local soup kitchen for more than 6 months.

“Those who can't afford [food] are the first ones on my list,” Ray says. “Fostering community through gardening is our motto—this is the most important thing.” 

Community members are familiar with the cause of food insecurity in the region: the rising costs of low-quality, imported produce; decreased access to traditional foods; low income; limited variety of food types and limited knowledge about healthy foods and how to prepare them. 

“Last year we created a bubble with our staff, turned the greenhouse into a massive farm for the summer and harvested as much vegetables as we could to provide fresh produce for the Arctic market, food bank and our community members,” says Ray, who is focused on creating long-term solutions to food insecurity despite interruptions caused by the global pandemic. 

In the wake of COVID-19, the Greenhouse which usually opens for community gardening in the summer closed their facility to the public and scaled their pre-existing veggie box subscription program. Ray and her team were able to ensure that community members and families still had access to fresh produce despite health restrictions. More than a year since the pandemic, the Greenhouse’s new, year-round hydroponic greenhouse will be able to bring even more food into the community by producing leafy vegetables using nutrient-rich water rather than soil.  

“This year we’re opening back up to the public and will work with the environmental health officer to create new programs that will allow people to garden together as a unit so that more people can have access to the space.” 

The addition of the hydroponic greenhouse also provides an opportunity for Ray and her team to train representatives from other communities in the Northwest Territories on how to use the hydroponics greenhouse. In partnership with the University of Saskatchewan, a funder of the new hydroponic greenhouse, their hope is that similar greenhouses can be built in communities like Inuvik. 

It won’t be the first time the Inuvik Community Greenhouse has worked with other communities. The Beaufort Delta region (including Aklavik, Fort McPherson, Paulatuk, Sachs Harbour, Tsiigehtchic, Tuktoyaktuk, and Ulukhaktok) learned to run greenhouses from Ray and her team years ago. The program welcomed single mothers who came with their children and underemployed people who volunteered their time in return for food.  

“They took these lessons back to their own communities and started to grow literally hundreds of pounds of food,” says Ray. “The Peel River Garden Society in Aklavik has even expanded to a second greenhouse.” 

Through collaboration, shared learning, and community-based approaches to food security, the Inuvik Community Greenhouse keeps working to foster community through gardening. 

“Through all the changes, all the new things we have done, our motto continues to be our main focal point.” Ray shares. And as the community and plants grow, so does the Greenhouse, with current plans to add an aeroponic facility that can be used to grow heartier foods like beans, potatoes, and peas.  

These days, Ray can be found out in the community taking her chickens for a walk in the snow. While chickens tend to stop laying eggs during fall and winter, Ray's have continued to produce eggs all season. "They're living their best lives," she laughs. It's her latest focus for long-term sustainability and part of a new program she hopes to introduce to the community soon. "If you could get a chicken for $5 that'll lay eggs for you for years, that's food security," she says. "That's an actual, tangible food security initiative that could work." 

Building dynamic and resilient agricultural systems contributes to community food security and enhances the overall health of families and community members. Ray says this is what the Inuvik Community Greenhouse is working towards. “In everything we do, we ask, how are we helping? How are we serving the community?”

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Learn more about the fascinating, changing Arctic through its many voices.

Our feature exhibition, Arctic Voices presented by RBC, explores the northernmost biome, a region warming faster than any place on Earth. On until September 2021.