Canadians need help to combat food inflation
By Lethbridge Herald on July 6, 2022.
Dr. Sylvain Charlebois
Dalhousie University
It wasn’t a good week if you’re a consumer on a tight budget – and that means most of us. Consumers are under attack.
We’ve just learned that Canada’s food inflation rate was at a record 9.7 per cent in May. Everyone is noticing higher food prices and no section of the grocery store is immune.
What’s hitting Canada is a global phenomenon; food prices aren’t coming down anytime soon. The world will see a shortfall in commodity production this fall, which could push prices even higher worldwide. Supply chain issues, coupled with a new inflationary cycle triggered by the Ukrainian conflict, are impacting the food industry’s ability to fill shelves.
The shift is so incredibly sharp that many vendors can’t agree with grocers on pricing, pushing them to put their business on hold, as we saw with the Frito-Lay dispute with Loblaws earlier this year. There are many stop-sells out there.
The macroeconomic picture is one thing. But some policies in Canada are just making things worse.
The Canadian Dairy Commission (CDC), a Crown corporation, believed a second milk price increase was necessary for dairy farmers. Last week, we learned that milk prices paid to farmers will rise again by 2.5 per cent, after a record increase of 8.4 per cent in February. Last winter’s increase was so severe that most dairy alternatives are now priced the same as milk or lower.
The Dairy Farmers of Canada, one of the most powerful lobby groups in the country, requested another mid-year increase due to “exceptional circumstances” without telling us where the data is coming from.
To add insult to injury, the commission’s decision to raise milk prices was made by a federal public body operating for several months without a full complement on its board.
The board only has two members and both are in dairy farming.
Conflicts of interest are rampant at the commission, just as in politics and academia. Many Canadian university scholars aren’t just researchers – they’re essentially advocates for their funding agencies representing the dairy industry. The dairy boards have power and influence beyond belief. If only Canadians realized. The fact that Dairy Farmers of Canada and the Canadian Dairy Commission work as one is deeply disturbing. Canadian consumers need to be heard.
Many Canadians would empathize with dairy farmers – who face higher production costs – if only the commission would share more data.
The lack of disclosure is very much about asking Canadians to support an inefficient dairy sector more than properly compensating farmers. And by fall, this new increase will price the dairy section at the grocery store out of the market for many consumers.
Ultimately, we stand to lose many more dairy farms as their sales decline.
The federal government is also coming forward with new labelling rules for saturated fats, sodium and sugar. Health Canada’s front-of-package labelling was long overdue, and it will make our food healthier. But the new policy also aims at a key single-ingredient product that many Canadians enjoy: ground meat.
Ground beef and pork are among the most affordable sources of animal protein we have. Based on the plans we’ve seen, only extra-lean ground meats are exempt from the new labelling. If this goes ahead, grocers will stop carrying more affordable ground meat, making the meat counter even more expensive. It’s just ridiculous.
The federal government is the consumer’s worst enemy right now. It needs to think through some of these ill-timed policies that will make food even more expensive.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s so-called anti-inflation plan presented recently won’t do much for Canadians at the grocery store. Many of us hoped for tax breaks, anything to ease our fiscal burden, as many countries have done in recent months. But Freeland opted to make a ‘microwave’ announcement, basically reheating programs already in place – it’s like clapping with one hand.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg recently said the war in Ukraine could last years. However regrettable this may be, this is what the Canadian government needs to focus on for the foreseeable future.
Farmers need help with inputs to prepare for fall, winter and next spring. The government should also become one of the world’s most influential trade advocates and prevent other countries from hoarding food. More nationalistic protectionism can only make things worse.
Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is senior director of the agri-food analytics lab and a professor in food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University.
© Troy Media
23-22
Why is the Federal government attacking Farmers? Why is the Federal government considering attacking Southern Alberta farmers; the bread basket of the country and cattle producers?
The Government of Holland has done it . Resulting in Farmer protests. (Farmer Convoy) . Could the Federal government be planning on doing something similar in Canada? Some believe the government is subtly and quietly planning on restricting fertilizer usage for farmers by 30 %. complicated
Farming is a big expensive complicated, scientific business and industry. It is the life blood of many Southern Alberta communities, including Lethbridge. Farmers know and understand environmental conditions. They are the best stewards of the land you can find.
If so what kind of economic impact would that have on Southern Alberta, and the remainder pf the country?
Most people are feeling the effect of food inflation.. I suspect the real inflation numbers are much higher, than those reported
Government sanctioned inflation reporting, never reflects the true street level price increases to everyday necessities.
Please consider the following video become informed, and supportive of the agricultural industry.
https://youtu.be/BTipea_Aa6s
COMING SOON TO A COUNTRY NEAR YOU…. CANADA THANKS EXCLUSIVELY TO JUSTIN TRUDEAU and the INSANITY of WEF Climate Policies
Are you worried about Food Inflation? Why is the Canadian Media more interested in “news stories” like a couple of movie stars getting married , than international stories of this much importance that affect us all.
Oh yah; I forgot we are talking about the “Canadian Media” or the Liberal bought and paid for (with our money) Prada
No wonder more and more people even in the USA have lost trust with traditional media sources and gone to independent run news sources
Please consider viewing the following video’s which may be one reason for food inflation. Please support a farmer, Farmers; world wide.
https://youtu.be/JMo6bdiv1Gg
https://youtu.be/TTIlbcWURHY
https://youtu.be/mswHVPD-j_o
https://youtu.be/M9UdMsbMeog
https://youtu.be/5PYkrXwoOZ4
https://youtu.be/sAm1dww6SdA
https://youtu.be/u6sAOt4EZLU
https://youtu.be/DFhBwsYJSkUhttps://youtu.be/uyvJgZ1nvkw
https://youtu.be/XKuqSVv3i0c
https://youtu.be/lG660H1JjWU
https://youtu.be/VUXU5UxlddE