In rural Alaska villages, families struggle to survive

(CNN) — Thousands of villagers in rural Alaska are struggling to survive, forced to choose between keeping their families warm and keeping their stomachs full, residents say.

Harvested nuts and berries, small game animals, and dried fish are the only things keeping some from starving.


… Emmonak resident Nicholas Tucker wondered if others were feeling the impact, so he broadcast an inquiry via VHF radio, one of the common ways to communicate in the village.

Tucker said many residents sobbed as they radioed him back.

“His family has been out of food for quite some time now,” Tucker wrote about one resident in a letter sent to legislators and the media. “Their 1-year-old child is out of milk, [he] can’t get it and he has no idea when he will be able to get the next can.”

“There are days without food in his house,” Tucker wrote.

CNN