Sticker shock is becoming a more common experience at the supermarket. Shoppers hoping to pick up fresh produce are looking at price tags and walking away disappointed.
Food inflation in Canada was expected to raise grocery prices from one to three per cent this year, according to a report from Dalhousie University. Fruit and vegetable prices are expected to increase the most: from one to three per cent for fruits and from four to six per cent for vegetables. This is projected to have knock-on effects for restaurants and food banks too.
Prices have been rising in Loblaws grocery stores over the last three months, according to a statement issued by the Canadian grocery store chain on Wednesday. Some Ottawa residents worry that if the trend continues, they won’t be able to afford fruits and vegetables.
“It’s going to make things harder for people who are health conscious and don’t want to eat as many processed foods,” said Eva Lin, a customer at Massine’s Independent Grocer in Centretown. “Who can afford to buy five to eight servings of vegetables these days?”
The store’s manager, Dave Massine, said that the changes are inevitable.
“Everything goes up in price and usually prices go up every winter,” he said, and this year,“a lot of it has to do with Mother Nature.” Massine explained that higher prices for California produce may be partially due to the recent wildfires in the state.
Centretown Emergency Food Centre is located at a seven-minute walk from Massine’s Independent food store. Once a month, low-income and unemployed neighbourhood residents line up in the centre’s basement to receive three to four days worth of groceries.
For many who use the centre’s monthly fruit and vegetable service, the prices for healthy food at local grocery stores go beyond their budget. John Belair says that produce wouldn’t be an option for him without the food bank’s help. “At least here [at the centre] we can get onions, potatoes and many other vegetables. I am not a big fruit eater but I can get them here.”
Like Belair, many low-income Ottawa residents aren’t able to meet their dietary needs because of the cost of groceries, according to Aidan Grapes, a volunteer at the centre.
Centretown Emergency Food Centre is able to provide its members with boxes of food because it receives charitable donations and discounted prices from food suppliers. It has benefited from Massine’s help too.
AUDIO: Grapes explains how Massine’s Independent Grocer helps Centretown’s community.
