New reports highlight rising food prices in B.C.
It’s more proof that the rising cost of groceries has begun to crush the finances of families.
A series of reports show that food banks are expecting another increase in demand this year. The rate of child poverty has increased and shoppers are no longer loyal to their regular food markets. This in an attempt by shoppers to make ends meet.
“I shop around, whoever has the best deals, that’s the grocery store that I go to,” said Kimmie Iyer.
Iyer is not alone. Researchers at Dalhousie University have found that nearly two thirds of Canadians have done away with loyalty, swapping grocery stores in search of better deals.
“Which is actually quite substantial because grocery shopping is something that is driven by habits,” said Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University.
It appears the majority of Canadians are now breaking those habits under ever-increasing food prices.
“We are seeing increased demand day over day, week over week,” said Treska Watson, director of operations for the Mustard Seed Food Bank in Victoria.
Watson says that demand shows no signs of slowing down. According to the Yearly Hunger Count Survey, food bank use across the country is up 78.5 per cent since 2019.
“We have never ever seen this steep of an increase,” said Watson.
In a new report conducted by Second Harvest, Canada’s largest food rescue organization, food banks will need to brace themselves for an 18-per-cent increase in demand this year.
That translates to more than 1 million people throughout the country needing to turn to a food bank this year to get by.
“One of the most troubling demographics that we’ve seen is use is up with double income families,” said Watson. “What that means is single parents are in an even tougher situation.”
At the Victoria Single Parent Resource Centre, that assumption is confirmed.
“We found that single parents were experiencing food shortages,” said Melissa Masse, executive director of the Victoria Single Parent Resource Centre.
That organization runs a weekly member market day, giving away free groceries.
“Since December I’ve had 500 families come through our market and with the 500 families, we’ve seen 800 children being fed,” said Masse.
The 2023 BC Child Poverty Report Card shows that one in seven children in B.C. is now living in poverty.
Overall, the child poverty rate is 14.3 per cent. It jumps to 31 per cent for kids living on reserve and more than 40 per cent for children in single-parent households.
“Which is a sad state to be in, especially knowing that one in five Canadian children come from a single-parent home,” said Masse.
It’s not just food prices putting immense pressures on families. Interest rates and rising rents are key factors that are causing many to have to choose between food or shelter.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
Jurors in Trump hush money trial hear recording of pivotal call on plan to buy affair story
Jurors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump heard a recording Thursday of him discussing with his then-lawyer and personal fixer a plan to purchase the silence of a Playboy model who has said she had an affair with the former president.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
New scam targets Canada Carbon Rebate recipients
Fake text message and email campaigns trying to get money and information out of unsuspecting Canadian taxpayers have started circulating, just months after the federal government rebranded the carbon tax rebate the Canada Carbon Rebate.
Universities grapple with the complicated politics of campus encampments
Montreal police are facing pressure to move in and dismantle a pro-Palestinian encampment on McGill University campus on Thursday, as a growing number of universities across this country grapple with the tough decision of how to handle the protests.
Police order B.C. woman who praised Hamas not to protest for 5 months, says her group
A pro-Palestinian activist group says its international co-ordinator, who was arrested in a Vancouver hate-crime investigation, was released with an order not to attend any protests for the next five months.
Conservative MP says Chinese hacking attack targeted his personal email
A Conservative MP is challenging claims by House of Commons administration that a China-backed hacking attempt did not impact any members of Parliament, because the attack was on his personal email.
Loblaw leaders call criticism 'misguided,' say they aren't to blame for high food prices
Loblaw chairman Galen Weston and the company's new CEO are pushing back against critics who blame the grocery giant for soaring food prices, as a month-long boycott of the retailer gets underway.