Rising Food Prices

May 30, 2008

Canadians have some of the lowest food prices in the world, with 10% of total household expenses going to food and non-alcoholic beverages.  Europeans spend over 20% and most developing countries spend almost all their family income on food.

Many international factors affect food prices, including rising oil prices and transportation costs, lower stocks of grain and increased demand from emerging economies such as China and India.  Raw ingredients such as wheat represent a small fraction of retail food costs but do have some impact on consumer prices.  For example, during the 2007 – 2008 crop year to date, the cost of wheat in a standard 20 ounce loaf of bread was 16 cents.  The cost during the last crop year was 10 cents per loaf. 

Our Government is committed to working with farmers to do what they do best:  grow food.  We are working with Canadian farmers, processors and retailers as they produce, market and sell quality food for Canada and the world. 

Biofuels benefit the environment and Canadian farm families by providing a market in their own neighbourhoods where they can sell their crops for fair prices rather than watching shipping costs erode their profits. This Government’s goal of 5% renewable content in gasoline and 2% renewable content in diesel is a balanced and achievable approach based on consultation with the sector in order to effectively introduce renewable fuels as a strong and viable option to Canadians.  By meeting Canada’s biofuel goals, we will make a real difference for our environment and future generations by taking the equivalent of almost one million cars off the road

Internationally we are standing up for people facing hunger as the second largest contributor to the United Nations World Food Program.  We are delivering real help for people around the world facing hunger with another $50 million a year in food aid. 

Our Government will be reducing taxes by $200 billion over the next five years to make certain Canadians are able to keep as much of their hard earned money to meet cost-of-living increases.

Colin Mayes, Okanagan-Shuswap