In 1995 the NT Department of Health and Community Services developed the NT Food and Nutrition Policy. One of the strategies identified in this policy was to develop a tool (the “Market Basket Survey”) to monitor food cost, availability, variety and quality in remote community stores. The Market Basket Survey also enables information to be collected on: store management, employment of Aboriginal people, existence of a store nutrition policy, community development initiatives by the store such as sponsorship and donations, nutrition promotions and store worker training. The first Territory wide survey of remote stores was carried out in 1998 when 45 stores were surveyed. The survey includes a basket of foods which meets the average energy and recommended nutrient needs of a hypothetical family of six people for a fortnight. The family was chosen to represent a cross-section of people who had important nutrient requirements because of their age and sex.