ST. JOHNS — If fuel prices keep heading in the direction they’re going, it won’t be long before consumers start seeing $8 heads of lettuce on supermarket shelves, as Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association Director Peter Nelson likes to say.

Well, eight bucks for lettuce is a bargain compared to what watermelon is going for in some coastal outposts of northern Labrador.

According to the CBC, residents in the community of Nain were outraged when a local Labrador Investments store was selling a watermelon for $55.41. That’s right — about 40 cents a seed.

"It’s been sitting there on the shelf for the last three days, like an attraction, because so many people can’t believe the price," Sarah Erickson, the head of the town’s Inuit community government, told CBC.

According to the report, the watermelon was taken off the shelf after complaints surfaced. The store manager later said the actual price should have been $38. That’s a relief.

Erickson said the price is extremely high considering federal and Newfoundland and Labrador subsidies are supposed to keep the cost of transporting perishable items affordable. She said that foods like watermelon often cost much more than most people in Nain can afford.

Erickson is asking for a review of the food subsidy program.

In the meantime, barbeques in Nain will continue to be BYOW: Bring Your Own Watermelon.