Ep. 608: Quiet Food Insecurity
Guest: Dr. Sylvain Charlebois
“Quiet food insecurity,” says The Food Professor, Sylain Charlebois, “is a noticeable decline in the quality and variety of food in shopping baskets and that poses long-term nutritional and health risks.” The nature of the make-up of the shopping cart contents is a direct reflection on the cost of food. “Prices are up by about $1,000 over last year for a family of four,” says Charlebois.
The pressure on food prices accelerated with the imposition of tariffs on US food in March of 2025. Despite the tariffs being removed, food prices did not drop. “In September, food inflation actually rose,” says Charlebois. Today, food prices are still rising at about four to six percent a year. Meat and produce have been identified as the major contributors to increases in grocery prices.
The driving factors include, but are not limited to, a weaker Canadian dollar, international trade friction, on-going supply chain challenges, and a dramatic increase in fuel costs. Charlebois describes the situation as “bad, bad for family budgets and bad for health and it’s due to consumers changing shopping patterns to put food on the table.”
We invited the Food Professor Sylvain Charlebois to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the impacts of rising food prices on all of us.
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