From rosehip ketchup to wild boar lardo, food businesses across Northern Canada are finding unique ways to use local ingredients.

Niki McKenzie is the chef and owner of , a restaurant and butchery in Yellowknife that uses fish from nearby Great Slave Lake, among other locally harvested foods.

SA国际影视传媒淭hereSA国际影视传媒檚 a huge abundance of food out here in front of us and, just with the way the world is going, it seems weird to me that weSA国际影视传媒檙e not utilizing more of it,SA国际影视传媒� McKenzie said.

McKenzie said she takes everything local fishers catch and uses every part. Among her specialties are fish sausage, fish ham, trout pastrami, fish eye chips and SA国际影视传媒渘orthern calamariSA国际影视传媒� made from the stomachs of white fish. She also makes bacon with birch syrup and fennel seeds, capers from spruce tips, pepper from roasted ground juniper and ketchup from rosehip.

SA国际影视传媒淚 have regular customers now who come in every week and are always excited to see what new weird and wacky things ISA国际影视传媒檝e created.SA国际影视传媒�

Indigenous people in the North have long lived off the land, harvesting foods such as caribou, berries and fish. But many of the territoriesSA国际影视传媒� residents rely on imported food and experience disproportionately high rates of food insecurity. That has been attributed to limited transportation networks, socioeconomic inequalities, the legacy of colonial policies, climate change and environmental contamination.

Many food producers in the region are hoping to change that.

France Benoit, who operates Le Refuge Farm in Yellowknife, grows a variety of vegetables and herbs. She uses them in products such as soups and sauces, and sells them from her home and at the farmers market.

SA国际影视传媒淔or me, itSA国际影视传媒檚 assuming environmental responsibility for what ISA国际影视传媒檓 doing,SA国际影视传媒� she said.

SA国际影视传媒淗aving the produce locally grown here helps with climate change and our greenhouse gas emissions SA国际影视传媒� ItSA国际影视传媒檚 about trying to build up food security and food sovereignty as much as possible.SA国际影视传媒�

Bush Order Provisions, run by Marie Auger-Thomas and Kyle Thomas, is a market garden, bakery and farm store in Yellowknife.

Vegetables and greens are sold directly to consumers and used in baked goods. They also sell products from other Northern food producers such as jams, spices and fish.

Anything they donSA国际影视传媒檛 use or sell is composted.

SA国际影视传媒淚f we can offset our reliance on trucking food, just even a small amount SA国际影视传媒� itSA国际影视传媒檚 a benefit to our food system as a whole,SA国际影视传媒� Thomas said.

The couple is also inspiring others to produce their own food. That includes working with students who run a cafe in the Tlicho community of Whati northwest of Yellowknife, where they hope to make their own bagels.

The 2021 agricultural census reported there were eight farms in the Northwest Territories.

A variety of plants and berries also grow naturally throughout the territory and residents can hunt animals such as moose and bison.

After Mike Mitchell learned how to collect birch sap and turn it into syrup from Metis Elder Frederick Beaulieau in Hay River, he and Craig Scott started Arctic Harvest in 2010. Since then, they have been tapping trees just outside Yellowknife each spring, with permission from the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, to produce Sapsucker Birch Syrup and teach others the practice.

SA国际影视传媒淔ood security is a big issue in the North,SA国际影视传媒� Scott said, noting there is only one road in and out of Yellowknife. SA国际影视传媒淚SA国际影视传媒檓 not saying that birch syrup is going to feed everyone in the N.W.T. or anything, but we have to learn to provide our own food.SA国际影视传媒�

The 2021 census states there were 88 farms Yukon producing crops, dairy, eggs and meat.

Landed Bakehouse in Whitehorse uses wheat and barley grown by Yukon Valley Farm, milk from Sunnyside Farm, eggs from Mandalay Farm, and meat from The Farm Gate.

Simone Rudge, her husband and son own Tum TumSA国际影视传媒檚 Black Gilt Meats, a butcher shop and charcuterie in Whitehorse, which offers meats from Yukon farms. Along with regular cuts of meat they also offer organs, bone broth and products such as wild boar lardo butter, meat crackers and biltong, a South African-style dried meat.

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 expensive to raise livestock in the North,SA国际影视传媒� said Rudge, who also owns and operates Aurora Mountain Farm. SA国际影视传媒淚n order to get maximum value from an animal, you need to use all of it.SA国际影视传媒�

In Nunavut, there are no farms but many Inuit hunt and fish. Local foods such as muskox, seal, Arctic char and whale skin and blubber can also be purchased at Nunavut Country Food in Iqaluit or Kitikmeot Foods in Cambridge Bay.

Warren de Bruin, food and beverage consultant for Nova Hotel Group, said his team tries to take advantage of local foods at The Discovery in Iqaluit. The hotelSA国际影视传媒檚 restaurant, the Granite Room, offers dishes featuring seasonally available items including Arctic char and caribou from hunters in the territory.

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 hugely popular, especially with the local community in Iqaluit.SA国际影视传媒�

-By Emily Blake, The Canadian Press