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Remember the great cauliflower crisis of 2016" A small head fetched as much as $10 and people freaked out, while this unassuming vegetable became a harbinger of rising food prices. Well, get ready for more sticker shock.
Canada?s annual Food Price Report, published this year by Dalhousie University, estimates we?ll be paying three to five percent more on food in 2017?which, for the average family, works out to about $420 more. It?s a bigger jump than the typical one- to two-percent rate of inflation, and also higher than the sizeable 2.6 percent increase we saw last year.
Here?s how the forecast breaks down: families in Ontario and Quebec will feel the hike hardest, the cost of fruit and nuts will jump by three to five percent and veggies and meat (pork and chicken are set to rise, beef will stay put) by as much as four to six percent. Dairy and eggs and bakery and cereal will stay stable with the rate of inflation. So why is everything from apples to zucchinis more expensive" Blame our unstable loonie. ?The biggest factor will be the falling Canadian dollar,? explains study author Sylvain Charlebois. ?Given how many food products we import from abroad, our food economy is vulnerable to currency fluctuations.? The report also considered the impact La Nina?s weather patterns and Trump?s presidency will have on the state of agriculture and the cost of food.
Some good news for local food lovers and growers: While you pay a premium at farmers? marke...