Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Food Prices, A Major Concern in 2011

By Mary Gazze, The Canadian Press

TORONTO - Get ready to fork over a little more cash before you pick up your dinner fork.
Canadians will be paying between five and seven per cent more for groceries on average by the end of the year, economists say. A family that spends about $400 a month on groceries could end up paying up to $340 extra in a year.

Bad crops around the world, oil trading for more than US$100 a barrel and the economic recovery are driving prices higher.

Food companies are raising prices due to the soaring costs of key commodity ingredients like wheat, corn, sugar and vegetable oil, which have gone up as much as 50 to 100 per cent over the last year at a near-record rate.

With the United Nations blaming higher crude oil prices for pushing global food prices to an all time high, Canadians have been spared so far because of cutthroat grocery store competition and the high loonie making the cost of imported goods cheaper.  LINK...
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Food and Energy folks. It's what they DON'T include in the government inflation figures, yet it's they only thing we really spend money on in retirement. Think about it!  BK