‘Perfect playbook for a global food crisis’ Highest Canadian food inflation costs in 40 years at 9.7 per cent

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Canadians paid 9.7 per cent more in April for food from the grocery store compared with April 2021, the largest increase since September 1981, according to Statistics Canada.

While that doesn’t seem like a big number, the concern is how it all adds up at the till.

“Everything’s going up, as I’m sure people are aware, across the board, the big ones are meat, produce a bit, dry good are going up,” says Craig Cavin, operations manager at Country Grocer.

But, the traffic at the store is still up, it’s the size of carts that’s changed.

“I think people are shopping more often, it seems there’s a lot more customer trips during the day and the order’s aren’t quite as big,” says Cavin.

But, in each category not all prices are rising at the same time.

Sylvain Charlebois with the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University says the meat counter is an interesting story.

“Pork and chicken are actually cheaper than in December. On average, about 15 per cent, on average across the country. Beef though, is just driving prices higher at the meat counter,” says Charlebois.

He adds that dry goods, especially peanut butter, are up in price, along with dairy, fresh fruits and vegetables.

The big increases are:

  • Fresh fruit +10.0 per cent
  • Fresh Vegetables +8.2 per cent
  • Meat +10.1 per cent
  • Bread +12.2 per cent
  • Pasta +19.6 per cent
  • Rice +7.4 per cent
  • Cereal products +13.9 per cent

Experts are encouraging families to buy local, as a way to save a couple extra bucks.

“A lot of people tend to think local foods are more expensive, I would actually look at them again because I think a lot of people would be surprised. A lot of local foods, I would imagine, are now very competitive, unlike a year ago,” adds Charlebois.

The war in Ukraine, poor weather and sky rocketing oil and gas prices are all to blame for the price jump, experts say, with little relief on the horizon.

“You’re looking at the perfect playbook for a global food security crisis, I don’t think we’ll run out of food in Canada, it’s just going to get more expensive that’s all,” says Charlebois.

An alarming reality for many families as they try to make ends meet.

Hannah LepineHannah Lepine

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