Latest / INSIGHT TODAY / Food prices forecast to increase in 2026, with meat leading the way

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Food prices forecast to increase in 2026, with meat leading the way · INSIGHT TODAY

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  Speaker 1: While we have a new report on food prices this morning.
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  Speaker 1: That could be bad news for your grocery budget. And
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  Speaker 1: if you're already pairing back your holiday meal plans, the
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  Speaker 1: new year may not bring any relief. That report is
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  Speaker 1: predicting food prices will go up again in twenty twenty six.
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  Speaker 1: This is from the latest annual report produced by del
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  Speaker 1: Housie University in collaboration with other top Canadian universities. It's
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  Speaker 1: forecasting that overall food prices will go up by four
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  Speaker 1: to six percent in the new year, and the average
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  Speaker 1: family of four could be spending nearly one thousand dollars
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  Speaker 1: more on food inflation. US President Donald Trump's trade wark
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  Speaker 1: just a couple of reasons why we're seeing the hike,
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  Speaker 1: and he said aari breaks down those numbers as well
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  Speaker 1: as all the factors hitting your grocery bill.
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  Speaker 2: To help Canadians aren't imagining it. Buying meat at the
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  Speaker 2: grocery store keeps getting pricier.
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  Speaker 3: When I'm shopping, I look, Okay, this chicken is on
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  Speaker 3: sale today.
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  Speaker 4: I guess I'll buy that one.
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  Speaker 3: Maybe try and go to Costco to stock up, fill
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  Speaker 3: up the freezer.
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  Speaker 4: It is good any more expensive?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, like if you.
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  Speaker 5: Want to buy some spaghetti or something and put some
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  Speaker 5: ground beef on there, it's like like three dollars more
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  Speaker 5: or something.
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  Speaker 2: And new research from Dalhousie University predicts this trend will continue.
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  Speaker 2: Next year, meat could go up in price faster than
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  Speaker 2: many other foods. Overall food prices are predicted to go
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  Speaker 2: up between four and six percent in twenty twenty six,
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  Speaker 2: Meat is predicted to go up by five to seven percent.
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  Speaker 2: Some factors behind this include higher packaging and processing costs,
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  Speaker 2: and herds themselves are smaller this year, including some ranches downsizing.
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  Speaker 2: That's not happening at this bec ranch, but they understand
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  Speaker 2: why older ranching families that don't have younger generation coming
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  Speaker 2: into that are getting out.
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  Speaker 3: I mean it's the best time to get out. It's
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  Speaker 3: high prices for.
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  Speaker 2: Cattle right now that could have a cascade effect on
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  Speaker 2: more than just beef.
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  Speaker 5: A lot of cattle ranchers are exiting the industry, which
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  Speaker 5: is impacting inventory overall. So people are noticing higher prices.
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  Speaker 5: They're they're pivoting and over to other sources like chicken,
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  Speaker 5: which is why chicken prices are also on the rise.
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  Speaker 2: Vegetables could also jump between three and five percent. Overall,
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  Speaker 2: these researchers predict a family of four could spend up
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  Speaker 2: to nine hundred and ninety five dollars more next year
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  Speaker 2: on food. But remember these predictions are just that last year,
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  Speaker 2: the same researchers estimated fruit and vegetables would go up
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  Speaker 2: in price, and the actual retail price went in the
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  Speaker 2: opposite direction. And he s CBC News Calgary, let's take.
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  Speaker 1: You over to Toronto right now. That's where we find
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  Speaker 1: Megan Fitzpatrick. She's at the fort York Food Bank and
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  Speaker 1: they're looking at how their operations are now navigating as
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  Speaker 1: Canadians continue to struggle to afford more groceries. So, Megan,
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  Speaker 1: good to see you. I know you're sort of been
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  Speaker 1: talking to a number of people there. This is a
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  Speaker 1: bit of a deja voo moment for the food banks
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  Speaker 1: having to sort of deal with that higher demand.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning, Angie. Yes, we're here the fort York Food Bank.
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  Speaker 3: It's one of the busiest food banks in the city
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  Speaker 3: of Toronto, very centrally located downtown. And to that point
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  Speaker 3: of it being a busy food bank, it doesn't open
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  Speaker 3: its doors until nine o'clock this morning, but there's already
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  Speaker 3: a long line of people outside, braving the frigid temperatures
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  Speaker 3: in Toronto this morning, waiting to get in here. Just
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  Speaker 3: a signal of the demand on food banks like this one,
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  Speaker 3: and to hear more about that, and for reaction to
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  Speaker 3: that food prices report, Let's bring in Julie Lejuhne, who's
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  Speaker 3: the executive director of this food bank. And Julie, we're
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  Speaker 3: just talking about how busy it is here. Tell us
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  Speaker 3: a little bit about the food bank here, the services
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  Speaker 3: you provide, and how busy it is for you.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, we're seeing record numbers of clients again. I mean,
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  Speaker 4: in reality, our numbers have been going up since spring
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  Speaker 4: of twenty twenty two, but it has significantly gone up
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  Speaker 4: over the last few months. We had a few of
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  Speaker 4: our record numbers at sixty nine hundred and then seventy
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  Speaker 4: two hundred individuals a week just recently, which to put
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  Speaker 4: in perspective, pre COVID we're serving about a thousand and
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  Speaker 4: individuals a week and now just over seven thousand, seven thousand,
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  Speaker 4: two hundred, So.
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  Speaker 3: The need is already huge, and now we have this
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  Speaker 3: report that's predicting that food prices could go up even
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  Speaker 3: higher next year. Six percent potentially. When you hear that number,
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  Speaker 3: what goes through your mind?
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  Speaker 4: Shock, dismay, and worry. We are at capacity in a sense.
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  Speaker 4: I mean we we're keeping up right now, but like
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  Speaker 4: I was saying, it's we're almost doing like Jenga, trying
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  Speaker 4: to get that amount of food in here and out
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  Speaker 4: of here because we're just a small storefront on College Street.
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  Speaker 4: So something like that. I when I hear those numbers,
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  Speaker 4: I know our numbers are going to go up and
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  Speaker 4: we need to be prepared for that.
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  Speaker 3: And how do you prepare for that? What strategies can
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  Speaker 3: you use? I know I've heard from other food banks,
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  Speaker 3: you know, the few bank community concerned about how they're
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  Speaker 3: being stretched thin and concerns about not you know, running
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  Speaker 3: out of food or having to give less food to
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  Speaker 3: clients as the number of clients grows. Have you had
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  Speaker 3: to do that?
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  Speaker 4: No, We're very fortunate. Our community is really supportive of us,
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  Speaker 4: and so we've been able to provide almost even more
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  Speaker 4: food we provide. We try and provide overall healthy, culturally
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  Speaker 4: appropriate diet and we're keeping up with that because the
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  Speaker 4: community is generous to us and donating to us, and
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  Speaker 4: we have a food purchasing budget. One of the worries
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  Speaker 4: when I hear those numbers is is space really is
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  Speaker 4: just trying to get that amount of food in and
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  Speaker 4: out and in a nice dignified way, like you mentioned
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  Speaker 4: the line, having a line outside in our temperature, especially
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  Speaker 4: like today or even in the summer when it's hot
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  Speaker 4: or raining, that's not dignifying. And so ideally we just
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  Speaker 4: need a bigger space. That's my biggest worry is that
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  Speaker 4: to be able to keep up with the demand and
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  Speaker 4: then we can do it.
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  Speaker 3: In terms of the client tell here, have you seen
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  Speaker 3: that change over the years. Yes, the numbers of clients
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  Speaker 3: is increasing, but in terms of who those clients are,
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  Speaker 3: what are you seeing?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, so pre COVID so a few years ago, we
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  Speaker 4: would have said the majority of our clients were over sixty.
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  Speaker 4: Now in the last few years that's significantly changed to
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  Speaker 4: our to the eighteen to forty five range. And so
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  Speaker 4: we call that the working poor. People have a job,
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  Speaker 4: they have a part time job, or they're making a
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  Speaker 4: minimum wage, but you're not making enough to make ends meet.
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  Speaker 4: As you know, the city is really expensive, rent is high,
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  Speaker 4: your basic utilities, phone, transportation, and you can't do it
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  Speaker 4: you cannot make ends meet in Toronto on a minimum
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  Speaker 4: wage job.
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  Speaker 3: So again, if these prices do go up next year,
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  Speaker 3: that's very concerning. So just lastly, Julie, tell us a
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  Speaker 3: little bit about you. I can see the food all
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  Speaker 3: around you. What services do you offer for people here
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  Speaker 3: at this food bank?
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  Speaker 4: So we're open five days a week for groceries Tuesday
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  Speaker 4: through Saturday. In addition, we do hot meals every day
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  Speaker 4: basically except both five days a week for hot meals
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  Speaker 4: take away lunch. And then we also do a delivery
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  Speaker 4: program to one hundred and eighty seniors in a Toronto
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  Speaker 4: community housing building with healthy, culturally appropriate food for that.
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  Speaker 3: A lot of work being done here, and I know
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  Speaker 3: you're going to be busy here soon with a lot
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  Speaker 3: of volunteers coming in and your doors will open to
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  Speaker 3: the many people in need, Angie. And we know this
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  Speaker 3: story is playing out right across Canada with food banks
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  Speaker 3: and the need increasing. There was a report earlier this
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  Speaker 3: week from feed Ontario representing food banks that showed a
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  Speaker 3: ninth consecutive year of numbers going up in terms of
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  Speaker 3: food bank clients. So we'll be here talking to more
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  Speaker 3: volunteers and some clients throughout the morning.
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  Speaker 4: Angie, thanks a lot for that.
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  Speaker 1: Megan our CBC's Megan Fitzpatrick for us at the fort
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  Speaker 1: York Food Bank in Toronto,