Alaskan influencer documents shocking hometown food prices: ‘Everything has to go in’

In a remote Alaskan community where polar bears roam, a loaf of bread costs more than $9, a box of orange juice costs nearly $10, and a box of cereal costs $11.

Grant Magdanz, 30, recently documented these grocery store prices on his way back to Kotzebue in Alaska’s Northwest Arctic. Kotzebue is more than 500 miles away from Anchorage, the largest city in Alaska.

Known as the “Gateway to the Arctic,” Kotzebue has a population of just over 3,000 people, with about 70% of the residents Inupiat Eskimo, according to the town’s website.

In a pair of videos he shared on social media, Magdanz talked about the high cost of living in his hometown, where he attended a memorial service for his father.

“The cost of living here is very high because there are no roads in or out,” he said in a video. “Everything has to go in.”

In the latest video, Magdanz described his visit to the newest grocery store in Kotzebue, recording some food and drink prices there.

Butter was on sale for $8.14 a pound, a quart of orange juice was $9.79, a bag of tortilla chips was $11.29, a bag of Starbucks brand coffee was $17.43, a box of cereal was on sale for $11.05, a loaf of wheat bread was $9.49 – and bananas were $2.99 ​​a pound.

In a video posted in August, Magdanz recorded the prices of food and drinks at the old grocery store there.

The price of milk was $12.69 per gallon, a carton of 18 eggs was $10.79, a 5-pound bag of flour was on sale for $12.99, a regular bag of nacho cheese flavored chips was 11 .29, a 12-pack of soda was $15.19 – and a pint of ice cream was $10.69.

Magdanz told the SWNS news agency that most people in Kotzebue hunt (especially caribou and moose) and fish — “and the diet people eat is the stuff they’ve hunted.”

“People aren’t just eating out of grocery stores,” he told SWNS.

Magdanz said that, despite the high prices, Kotzebue was still “a fantastic place to grow up,” mainly because children can learn a wide range of skills in the outdoors.

He left a decade ago to attend college in Seattle and now lives in Los Angeles, where he got a job after graduating.

But he would consider returning one day, the software engineer told SWNS.

“It’s a very safe city,” Magdanz said.

Fox News Digital reached out to Magdanz and the grocery store for comment.