Consumers can expect to see food prices rise at rates much higher than those estimated by Statistics Canada, the House of Commons finance committee was told yesterday..“I am greatly concerned right now,” testified Professor Sylvan Charlebois, senior director of Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab. .“I actually don’t believe Canadians are fully aware of what is going on,” said Charlebois. “We are really facing a global food security crisis. I don’t think Canada will run out of food, but it will get pricier.”.According to Blacklock's Reporter, Charlebois last December 6 published a Food Price Report 2022 that predicted national price gains would average at least 3% for fruit, 5% for vegetables and bread and 6% for dairy products and restaurant meals..“When we published Canada’s Food Price Report in December we were expecting an increase of anywhere between 5 to 7%,” said Charlebois. “Given what has gone on so far in 2022 we are expecting the 7% threshold to be surpassed.”.“We have every reason to believe Statistics Canada is under evaluating the current food inflation rate right now,” said Charlebois. “We do believe the actual food inflation rate in Canada in March was close to 9.5 to 10%.”.“Are high food prices here to stay based on what you’re seeing now?” asked Liberal MP Heath MacDonald (Malpeque, P.E.I.). “Yes,” replied Charlebois. “We’re seeing a new normal. Prices won’t drop any time soon.”.The Analytics Lab director noted that grocery prices were driven in part by a fivefold increase in fertilizer costs over the past year. He said the market is controlled by "a handful of very greedy multinationals" who supply manage their products to artificially boost fertilizer prices. “Some of these multinationals are actually right here in Canada.”.Charlebois predicted that the world will see malnutrition in poor countries unable to absorb higher prices. “We are going to be short on wheat, corn, barley and many other commodities,” he said..He said by the end of 2022, more than 100 million people would likely experience famine or acute hunger. "Canada will be fine, food access wise, but food will get more expensive.”
