In Hopedale, Newfoundland, the rising cost of living is becoming a challenge for its residents. A small serving of roast beef can reach prices upwards of $18. Some of the locals challenged with the rising costs have moved away, something that Hopedale resident Dawn Winters would have considered, if not for her ability to hunt and forage.
Winters grew up hunting and foraging, with her father, who took her out and taught her all the skills when she was young. Winters picks berries to make jam, catches fish which she dries and stores, and snares game. She says meat from the game she snares is much more satisfying then the meat she buys in stores.
Each Spring, Winters also joins a group of hunters to search for wild eggs from birds like duck or geese.
"It's the first wild food we have access to in the springtime. Once the ice breaks, everybody takes off in their boats," said. Winters "You're lucky if you find just one or two eggs.… So it all depends on when the birds lay and when we're able to go out. It's the only time when the season opens, the only time you can get it."
While a good number of Hopedale residents can hunt, fish, and forage, the ones who did not have such an upbringing are having to rely on smaller portions and stretching out their budgets as grocery prices rise. Whatever Winters doesn’t need she offers to her family or to the community.
"To know that [hunting, fishing, and foraging traditions are] still alive and well, especially to have your kids there and learn those traditions as well — it's good to know that people are still carrying it on, she said"