Editorial: Concern over grocery prices no joke

The issue of soaring grocery prices was the subject of a hilarious skit on the Canadian comedy television show This Hour has 22 Minutes earlier this month.

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In the skit, a woman is seen going up to a cash register at a grocery store with a basketful of ingredients for a charcuterie board, which she plans on serving to her visiting in-laws.

Mimicking a patient and doctor scenario during child-birth, the woman gasps and groans with each ding of the register. When the cashier asks if she’s OK, she says to the cashier, “it’s just that you’ve only scanned a few items and it’s already sixty bucks … I’m scared.”

The cashier responds with “This isn’t going to be easy.. I need you to be brave alright” as he continues to scan her grocery items.

He then continues with “I need you take a deep breath.. I’m about to do the cheese.”

At one point the cashier tells the customer “it will all be over soon” and that she’ll go home wondering what she even bought.

She lets out a scream when he tells her the total for her groceries, comprised of grapes, cheese and cured meats. He tells her to “be strong” when she digs out her credit card to pay the $257.84 tally.

It’s a very relatable skit that conveys how many Canadians are feeling about the cost of food. On the show’s Facebook and Youtube channels, nearly every commenter says how ‘true’ the parody is to reality.

But all joking aside, concern over food costs is no laughing matter.

While farmers have rarely been the target of consumer anger over the price of food, that could change. From some commentary I’ve seen on newspaper articles reporting on the inflation and its effect on food prices, a change may be occurring already.

The usual banter on the follies of government and grocery retailer ‘gouging’ normally fills the comment section on such articles, but increasingly, I’ve seen more mentions of farmers and how they too are causing food prices to go up.

Of course most commenters don’t go into enough detail to fully understand why they think they way do.

But it’s obvious some are angry and frustrated. And they are looking for someone to blame.

I asked our freelance writer Matt McIntosh to explore this topic, and it’s our cover story for the Nov. 27 issue of Farmtario. I wondered if there was a real risk of farmers losing public trust, or having that trust decreased, in the face of high food costs.

The good news is, it isn’t. But the risk exists.

The recently released 2023 Public Trust Research report from the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity (CCFI) also provides some assurances. The annual report surveys Canadians coast to coast on their level of trust in the nation’s food and farming industries.

According to the report, farmers are still the most trusted of all food system stakeholders. Trust has remained unchanged year over year, as is the proportion of Canadians who feel the food system is headed in the right direction. However, the report authors caution that the “stability of public sentiment should not be taken for granted” as “the issue of food costs is a public trust risk requiring a collaborative approach.”

Authors noted Canadians are “are becoming more cynical about the factors that are at play regarding the cost of food and these perceptions must be proactively addressed with objective information” and communicated empathetically.

Also of note in the report is the significant decrease (14 per cent) in the proportion of respondents who felt supply chain costs are the top reason for the rising cost of food from 2022. In contrast, there was a significant increase (14 per cent) in the number of respondents who feel food costs have risen because businesses want to increase profits, or ‘gouge’ consumers than in 2022.

Beyond supply chain issues, the authors said Canadians under-estimate the impact other external factors have on the cost of food, such as fuel, animal feed and fertilizer costs.

“Very few Canadians connect world conflict, labour shortages or severe weather events to food costs — these are important missing links that need to be added to the common understanding underlying the cost of food,” the report said.

Consumers are also changing how they are eating and preparing food to stretch their grocery spend. Compared to last year, the report said significantly more Canadians have reduced food waste at home, bought less food or more frozen food, changed retailers and are cooking more at home.

Although recent data from Statistics Canada indicates food inflation rates are beginning to decrease, food costs will be top of mind for the foreseeable future.

While farmers have little control over what consumers pay at a retailer, they can help consumers understand that they are consumers too if given the opportunity. If not, the risk of losing pubic trust may become more real.