Salluit Community Greenhouse: Building the Foundations of Local Agriculture

Context

Food insecurity remains a major challenge for Nunavik communities, particularly in Salluit, where high food costs and limited availability of fresh produce make it difficult to access healthy food. For more than a decade, Salluit resident Stephen Grasser has successfully practiced vegetable production in a personal greenhouse for his own use.

In 2013, looking to extend this resource to the broader community, he began considering the possibility of establishing a community greenhouse. In 2018, he founded the AMAAT Society (Society for the Promotion of Food Security in Salluit) to support initiatives aimed at improving food access. Construction of the greenhouse began in 2023, and its first growing season launched in summer 2024—an important step for Salluit’s food autonomy.

CISA was mandated to support the initiative by providing technical assistance and developing custom tools to strengthen the community greenhouse project.

Objectives

This project aims to ensure the sustainability and community ownership of the greenhouse initiative by training gardeners of all ages in greenhouse horticulture; establishing and managing collective plots to provide vegetables to residents; completing a full production cycle with participation of youth, families, and various community groups; providing agronomic support to improve cultivation practices and input management; and encouraging citizen engagement through activities (workshops, visits, events) and the distribution of simplified guides on greenhouse operation. In this way, the project contributes to food security, skill development, and long‑term collective food production in Salluit.