WHAT THE CLUCK!: Whole chicken prices surge 33.5% in a year — is supply management failing to stabilize costs?

According to the most recent Statistics Canada consumer price measurement report, in one year, whole chicken has gone up a staggering 33.5% — and that's only the beginning.Chicken drumsticks have also gone up 18% in a year, along with chicken breast by almost 11%. So, what gives — how come chicken has gotten so expensive in just a year? And is this unique to Canada?For one, Canada does have one distinctive characteristic as part of its food system — supply management.Supply management regulates the milk, dairy, and egg industries by controlling the production of these products..It does this by requiring farmers to purchase quota permits, allowing producers to sell a set amount of product, and limiting the amount of foreign imports.According to the Food Professor, or Sylvain Charlebois, who runs an agri-food lab at Dalhousie University, this excessive and rapid increase in chicken prices raises questions and red flags about the system's effectiveness in shielding Canadians from "extreme price swings."Supply management was "designed to provide price stability and predictable returns for producers while limiting volatility," Charlebois told the Western Standard.So, why does it now appear consumers are getting the short end of the stick?One reason supply management is not functioning as intended is "Both dairy and poultry operate under quota systems with production controls and import restrictions," said Charlebois.."The challenge is that these systems were built decades ago for a very different marketplace."Charlebois points to costs throughout the supply chain causing rising prices, "feed, labour, transportation, packaging, energy, insurance — but consumers are increasingly questioning whether supply management is maximizing efficiency and competitiveness enough in today’s environment."When everything involved in producing chicken goes up, and as consumers begin to replace the even more inflated price of beef with poultry as an alternative — one can see how things begin to stack up. Charlebois says since the Canadian supply system is managed, "the system cannot always respond as quickly to sudden shifts in demand or market conditions.".All signs point to the feds doing something about the policy — but what exactly?Charlebois says scrapping supply management completely isn't very realistic, and altering the policy itself would be ideal.Modernization, he says, "is absolutely worth discussing.""Canadians deserve a system that protects producers while also improving affordability, responsiveness, transparency, and innovation.""The conversation should now focus less on defending the status quo and more on how to refresh the model for today’s economic realities."

WHAT THE CLUCK!: Whole chicken prices surge 33.5% in a year — is supply management failing to stabilize costs?

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