Leaders of a remote Northern Territory Indigenous community are pleading with the federal government to match a commitment to dialysis treatment by addressing soaring food prices that make healthy eating all but impossible.

Residents in Borroloola, off the Gulf of Carpentaria, about 970 kilometres south-east of Darwin by road, have welcomed the Commonwealth's commitment to build a new $13 million dialysis clinic in the community if it is re-elected – one of 30 promised for remote areas around Australia.

But many in the 900-strong community say they are worried the government's commitment to reducing the effects of kidney disease will be undermined because many remote people cannot afford to eat healthily.

Borroloola Garawa community leader Keith Rory said the promised dialysis clinic was welcome after too many elders, including members of his own family, had to move hundreds of kilometres away to access regular treatment.

"We do need more dialysis machines to bring back our elders living in Darwin and Katherine, because it's very sad to see that family members are only able to come back to Borroloola a few times for funerals for just a few days," he said.

But, after a recent diabetes diagnosis of his own, Mr Rory says he worries residents will continue to struggle to afford the healthy, fresh food he has been told he needs to stave off kidney disease.

"We can see how the food prices [are] going up," he said.

"We want the federal government to get more healthy food into our shop and reduce the price down. That's what we need.

"I'm on a diet for [diabetes] and I need really good, healthy food, so we need [to] reduce the prices in the shop."

For traditional owner Josie Davey, a lunch of three small serves of chips and a slice of pizza for her family from one of Borroloola's two food shops costs more than $50.

"The fruit and veggies are very expensive. We [are] trying to look after ourselves, but we need to buy food cheaper."

Joyce Dirdi works in a support service in Borroloola trying to help local families keep their kids out of child protection.

But she says her work is made more difficult because many families can't afford to feed their children properly.

"The cost of food is the main priority here in Borroloola, it's making kids break into the shop a lot," she said.

Government statistics show less than 20 per cent of people in the community of Borroloola have jobs.

Deena Britcher Gundy relies on welfare payments to feed her family, but she says he is also regularly having to feed children from her extended family and neighbourhood kids who will otherwise go hungry.

"It breaks my heart to see little kids going from house to house looking for food," she said.

"It's too dear for people to even buy one tin of meat, a loaf of bread and a packet of noodles and some teabags, sugar and milk. That costs you over $50 now.

"The federal government really need to increase the Jobseeker payments and the family benefits. All the payments need to be increased."

Federal Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy said she was "working on a national food strategy" for remote and regional areas because the prices were "way too high".

"I am also looking at working with the retailers, wanting to bring them together so that we can look at the costs," she said.

Senator McCarthy said the government was planning to offer remote stores funding to increase their freezer and storage capacity so they could stock healthy food for longer.

But Josie Davey is among those in Borroloola who remain much more worried about being able to afford to eat.

"It is too expensive for everyone here today. It's really hard to live like this," she said.