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In Remote Alaska, Meal Planning Is Everything

169 points by DoreenMichele 4y ago

ComputerCat 4y ago
Wow, I can't imagine living somewhere so remote. I wish I was better at meal planning/prepping/organizing, but it's a work in progress. I also want to get into preserving, pickling, etc. I think since fresh food is readily available where I live and I have the privilege of usually being able to afford fresh produce I've lost touch with how to have a "cushion" in case of emergency (which is something I was raised with).
tonymet 4y ago
meal planning is so easy. since covid we do grocery shopping every 6 weeks. it reduces a lot of stress and waste . foods last a lot longer than you think . eggs last 6 weeks , milk lasts a month and can be converted to yogurt to last another 6 -8 weeks. fruit can be jammed or frozen . veggies cooked and frozen in preparations it doesn’t take planning so much as being creative and changing the habit of needing to shop frequently
walrus01 4y ago
For comparison, food costs in Nunavut https://youtu.be/gbm8_m4txKY https://youtu.be/gbm8_m4txKY
- koheripbal 4y ago
  That's the difference between living in the nations food basket, and a remote town 1500 km into the inaccessible and barren tundra. What's odd is anyone's expectation that they would pay similar prices.
  - joenot443 4y ago
    Truly. Really though, the biggest difference is just matter of scale. The US has 10x the amount of people that Canada does. Nunavut has 40,000 residents, Alaska has 736,000. I'm Canadian and know some people who've spent time in Nunavut and life there seemed cold, lonely, dark, and expensive. My understanding is that once you're in Iqaluit, you aren't even able to drive to any other towns, they're generally not connected by real roads, nor would you be able to bring enough gas. Life in Alaska, especially near the cities, seems much more like the rest of rural Canada by comparison.
    - walrus01 4y ago
      alaska has 736,000 but now subtract the populations of juneau (fairly well linked to BC and WA by coastal barge service and alaska marine highway), and other SE alaska coastal towns with tug+barge cargo service, the anchorage metro area and road system, and fairbanks area. anchorage and fairbanks have normal road links to BC and the rest of the continent, albeit long and costly for fuel. very different cargo movement situation from what's categorized as a "fly in" community which is accessible only by airplane during 75% of the year and ice roads during the other 25%. the remote fly in communities in alaska are closer to nunavut in terms of cargo movement costs.
  - threatofrain 4y ago
    Also odd that Amazon can be cheaper than a government subsidized program.
    - walrus01 4y ago
      Amazon ended it over a year ago (YouTube video is from 3 years ago)
Turing_Machine 4y ago
> Amazon likely loses lots of money by shipping heavy food items to Bush Alaska, Probably not. U.S. Mail to Bush Alaska is heavily subsidized, through a program called "bypass mail". In the past some people have seriously abused this program (e.g. mailing enough concrete blocks to construct an entire building).
- NegativeLatency 4y ago
  Found an old associated press article about that: >Sam Krogstad of Bush Consolidators, which specializes in sending construction materials via the mail, says the Postal Service’s losses are partly self-inflicted because the postal system pays 10 times as much to send the building materials by air freight as it charges Krogstad to mail them. https://apnews.com/article/281d3e682569b2cc5edd890bf600d17e https://apnews.com/article/281d3e682569b2cc5edd890bf600d17e
  - lovich 4y ago
    They’re not self inflicted losses because it’s a constitutionally guaranteed service. Making a profit is not the point. Ensuring that every citizen has access to the communication network as a right is why the USPS does this
    - tdeck 4y ago
      The USPS didn't even offer parcel post until 1913.
    - googlryas 4y ago
      Nothing in the constitution indicates what kind of parcels the mail service should deliver. They already refuse to deliver certain types of parcels - are they violating the constitution by doing so?
      - lovich 4y ago
        Who cares? Engage with the argument that it’s self inflicted losses. If it’s a service for citizens then by definition it cannot have losses because it is _not_ a business. Even applying the idea of profit and loss to the post office is using a paradigm against it that does not fit the reason for its creation
pkaye 4y ago
I know there are two Costco stores in Alaska now.
- kjaleshire 4y ago
  Three, actually. There’s two just in Anchorage.
  - 1qczlejp 4y ago
    Four! N. Anchorage, S. Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau.
- ghaff 4y ago
  Yes, in Anchorage, which has something like 40% of the state's population and Fairbanks, which has about another 15%. Alaska's population is quite concentrated.
SilverBirch 4y ago
>Although this was a gourmet meal, in many ways it was just as great as the store-bought hot dogs and macaroni salad we had eaten together hundreds of times before; the quality of a meal is really a reflection of the company you share it with as well as the long process and coordination it takes to get everything on the table. This is such a strange phrase to me. I'm in the UK and it is always the case that processed, mass manufactured food is looked down upon. Store-bought hot dogs are a guilty pleasure or something you resort to as a time saving meal. Certainly not something that anyone would call great. Is the US attitude to this generally the opposite?
- wing-_-nuts 4y ago
  >I'm in the UK and it is always the case that processed, mass manufactured food is looked down upon. This from the country that brought us beans on toast? Maybe this is more of a middle class phenomenon, but the UK isn't exactly known for its food. Hotdogs and pasta salad sounds like something a desperate college student would cobble together. Not something the average american would consider eating. Given how well we assimilate different cultures in the US, the food is one of my favorite things. I can drive less than a few miles and literally have the best food of any number of cultures from any corner of the globe, and if I wish to cook it myself, any number of ethnic grocers to choose from. Not even to mention the food that is purely US in origin. There are many criticisms of the US but food isn't one of them.
  - GoToThePubMate 4y ago
  - tdeck 4y ago
    > Hotdogs and pasta salad sounds like something a desperate college student would cobble together. Not something the average american would consider eating. This is just.. not true? These are typical picnic foods.
  - GoodbyeMrChips 4y ago
    WOW! Posts removed for saying OP's statement that "UK isn't exactly known for its food" is both outdated and prejudiced! Explanation needed methinks.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

169 points by DoreenMichele 4y ago

Wow, I can't imagine living somewhere so remote. I wish I was better at meal planning/prepping/organizing, but it's a work in progress. I also want to get into preserving, pickling, etc. I think since fresh food is readily available where I live and I have the privilege of usually being able to afford fresh produce I've lost touch with how to have a "cushion" in case of emergency (which is something I was raised with).

tonymet 4y ago

meal planning is so easy. since covid we do grocery shopping every 6 weeks. it reduces a lot of stress and waste . foods last a lot longer than you think . eggs last 6 weeks , milk lasts a month and can be converted to yogurt to last another 6 -8 weeks. fruit can be jammed or frozen . veggies cooked and frozen in preparations it doesn’t take planning so much as being creative and changing the habit of needing to shop frequently

walrus01 4y ago

For comparison, food costs in Nunavut https://youtu.be/gbm8_m4txKY https://youtu.be/gbm8_m4txKY

koheripbal 4y ago
That's the difference between living in the nations food basket, and a remote town 1500 km into the inaccessible and barren tundra. What's odd is anyone's expectation that they would pay similar prices.
- joenot443 4y ago
  Truly. Really though, the biggest difference is just matter of scale. The US has 10x the amount of people that Canada does. Nunavut has 40,000 residents, Alaska has 736,000. I'm Canadian and know some people who've spent time in Nunavut and life there seemed cold, lonely, dark, and expensive. My understanding is that once you're in Iqaluit, you aren't even able to drive to any other towns, they're generally not connected by real roads, nor would you be able to bring enough gas. Life in Alaska, especially near the cities, seems much more like the rest of rural Canada by comparison.
  - walrus01 4y ago
    alaska has 736,000 but now subtract the populations of juneau (fairly well linked to BC and WA by coastal barge service and alaska marine highway), and other SE alaska coastal towns with tug+barge cargo service, the anchorage metro area and road system, and fairbanks area. anchorage and fairbanks have normal road links to BC and the rest of the continent, albeit long and costly for fuel. very different cargo movement situation from what's categorized as a "fly in" community which is accessible only by airplane during 75% of the year and ice roads during the other 25%. the remote fly in communities in alaska are closer to nunavut in terms of cargo movement costs.
- threatofrain 4y ago
  Also odd that Amazon can be cheaper than a government subsidized program.
  - walrus01 4y ago
    Amazon ended it over a year ago (YouTube video is from 3 years ago)

Turing_Machine 4y ago

> Amazon likely loses lots of money by shipping heavy food items to Bush Alaska, Probably not. U.S. Mail to Bush Alaska is heavily subsidized, through a program called "bypass mail". In the past some people have seriously abused this program (e.g. mailing enough concrete blocks to construct an entire building).

NegativeLatency 4y ago
Found an old associated press article about that: >Sam Krogstad of Bush Consolidators, which specializes in sending construction materials via the mail, says the Postal Service’s losses are partly self-inflicted because the postal system pays 10 times as much to send the building materials by air freight as it charges Krogstad to mail them. https://apnews.com/article/281d3e682569b2cc5edd890bf600d17e https://apnews.com/article/281d3e682569b2cc5edd890bf600d17e
- lovich 4y ago
  They’re not self inflicted losses because it’s a constitutionally guaranteed service. Making a profit is not the point. Ensuring that every citizen has access to the communication network as a right is why the USPS does this
  - tdeck 4y ago
    The USPS didn't even offer parcel post until 1913.
  - googlryas 4y ago
    Nothing in the constitution indicates what kind of parcels the mail service should deliver. They already refuse to deliver certain types of parcels - are they violating the constitution by doing so?
    - lovich 4y ago
      Who cares? Engage with the argument that it’s self inflicted losses. If it’s a service for citizens then by definition it cannot have losses because it is _not_ a business. Even applying the idea of profit and loss to the post office is using a paradigm against it that does not fit the reason for its creation

pkaye 4y ago

I know there are two Costco stores in Alaska now.

kjaleshire 4y ago
Three, actually. There’s two just in Anchorage.
- 1qczlejp 4y ago
  Four! N. Anchorage, S. Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau.
ghaff 4y ago
Yes, in Anchorage, which has something like 40% of the state's population and Fairbanks, which has about another 15%. Alaska's population is quite concentrated.

SilverBirch 4y ago

>Although this was a gourmet meal, in many ways it was just as great as the store-bought hot dogs and macaroni salad we had eaten together hundreds of times before; the quality of a meal is really a reflection of the company you share it with as well as the long process and coordination it takes to get everything on the table. This is such a strange phrase to me. I'm in the UK and it is always the case that processed, mass manufactured food is looked down upon. Store-bought hot dogs are a guilty pleasure or something you resort to as a time saving meal. Certainly not something that anyone would call great. Is the US attitude to this generally the opposite?

wing-_-nuts 4y ago
>I'm in the UK and it is always the case that processed, mass manufactured food is looked down upon. This from the country that brought us beans on toast? Maybe this is more of a middle class phenomenon, but the UK isn't exactly known for its food. Hotdogs and pasta salad sounds like something a desperate college student would cobble together. Not something the average american would consider eating. Given how well we assimilate different cultures in the US, the food is one of my favorite things. I can drive less than a few miles and literally have the best food of any number of cultures from any corner of the globe, and if I wish to cook it myself, any number of ethnic grocers to choose from. Not even to mention the food that is purely US in origin. There are many criticisms of the US but food isn't one of them.
- GoToThePubMate 4y ago
- tdeck 4y ago
  > Hotdogs and pasta salad sounds like something a desperate college student would cobble together. Not something the average american would consider eating. This is just.. not true? These are typical picnic foods.
- GoodbyeMrChips 4y ago
  WOW! Posts removed for saying OP's statement that "UK isn't exactly known for its food" is both outdated and prejudiced! Explanation needed methinks.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]