The Athabasca oilands area is experiencing a food crisis that continues to get worse due to the limited shopping options and the remote location that many residents in the oilsands area find themselves in. When the Fort Chipewyan Winter Road opens many residents will drive over 200 kilometres in order to shop at a Northwest Territories grocery store in order to save money and access healthier food choices. Fort Chipewyan only has a single grocery store, the Northern, and the store supplies can be expensive because of the costs involved in getting the food to the store. According to Joe Marten “It costs me about $100 to fill one shopping bag of food at the Northern. I can maybe fill up to three bags with that same amount of money if I shop up north.”

In the Athabasca oilsands the food crisis is keenly felt by many. According to the Wood Buffalo Food Bank more than 7,000 people needed help with food in October of 2015 alone, and this is an increase of 70% over the same time period of the previous year. Around 30%-35% of the clients served by the Wood Buffalo Food Bank are under 18 years old. To make matters worse the aboriginal population in the area no longer hunts, traps, and fishes the way that they used to. The concerns over pollution and the safety of consuming the fish and local wildlife, as well as the long hours and commutes to work camps that many aboriginal residents face for employment, have caused hunting and fishing rates to drop as well. This only worsens the food crisis and causes additional issues with the food supply.