Food Security Crisis: Thunder Bay And Beyond

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There has been some fantastic news for big grocery chains! Last year profits were up 10% overall. Of course, this may have something to do with the less fortunate news that food prices have increased by 4-7%, which means Canadians will spend $1000 more on the same groceries they got last year. This comes alongside recent numbers that confirm Canada has reached its highest inflation rate in 30 years. Dairy and fresh produce have taken the greatest leap in cost, which will worsen the already challenging effort to afford healthy food. For reference, a minimum wage worker can buy 15 boxes of Kraft dinner for one hour of work or they can buy almost 4kg of grapes. Knowing this, it's difficult to understand why anyone would opt for the latter because it will not provide as many meals despite being the healthier option. 

As a result of the pandemic, food chains have taken a major hit from fuel price increases, supply issues, and a labour shortage. The Ottawa Citizen reported that food donations are also down 25% in Ontario due to increased prices and people needing to secure food on their own tables first; there just isn’t enough left over for charity, even though an increased amount of people need it. 

In response to seeing an increase of empty shelves due to supply chain issues, many consumers are also panic-buying. If you don’t know, panic-buying is when consumers fear upcoming shortages and buy an unnecessary excess of goods so that they do not run out at home. This results in a few people hoarding the majority of what is available and sometimes reselling it at an inflated price in order to profit. This really just makes the problem significantly worse than it otherwise would have been. Government sources insist that empty shelves are not due to the Freedom Convoy and are, more often than not, caused by temporary bad weather conditions at this time of year. 

According to CBC, these are the increases all Canadians can expect in 2022:

• Dairy: Up 6-8%

• Restaurants:    Up 6-8%

• Bakery: Up 5-7%

• Vegetables: Up 5-7%

• Fruits: Up 3-5%

• Other: Up 2-4%

• Meat: Up 0-2%

• Seafood: Up 0-2% 

These increases detrimentally affect our most vulnerable sectors. Indigenous peoples, seniors on a fixed income, newcomers to Canada, and low-income households are at the greatest risk for food insecurity this year. Now, people who were previously at risk for needing assistance may be pushed over the edge and unable to juggle the additional costs. Experts speaking to The Star say that these prices will be the “new normal” that people will have to find a way to compensate for. 

Closer to home, The Thunder Bay Area Food Strategy team is concerned about the rising inflation rate will do to locals, especially since Thunder Bay has a large Indigenous population. Shelby Ch’ng, the co-chair of the Food Strategy team, released this statement: 

“Municipal leaders and decision-makers need to be made aware of this disruption in food security and brace for the changes to come.  Food security touches on many aspects in our Thunder Bay area communities, and community groups need to be made aware of this alarming trend in order to prepare their budgets and programming.”

So, while professionals work on strategizing protective economic aid, it is important that we all brace ourselves and budget accordingly for the foreseeable future with increased food costs.