NEWS PHOTO JEREMY APPEL
Local food security advocate Alison Van Dyke says there a few actions Hatters can take to minimize the impact of increasing food prices.
jappel@medicinehatnews.com@MHNJeremyAppel
A local food security advocate says there are a few ways Hatters can insulate themselves from increasing food prices across the country.
According to Canada’s Food Price Report – a collaboration between Dalhousie University and the University of Guelph – the average Canadian family will spend $480 more on groceries in 2020.
The report identifies fruit, meat and vegetables as the major culprits of this price increase, which it attributes to the effects of climate change, inflation and uncertainty surrounding Canada-U.S. trade.
Alison Van Dyke, food security co-ordinator at the Community Food Connections Association, told the News that purchasing from local food producers is one significant way to soften the blow of rising prices.
“In Medicine Hat, we’re in a really enviable position because we have a lot of access to market growers and greenhouses,” said Van Dyke. “Even when prices on some items go up in the stores, we have the opportunity to still buy them at cheaper prices here directly from greenhouses.”
Many increases to food prices are due to factors beyond control, so it’s up to consumers to make more sustainable choices, she added.
Another important measure is to reduce food waste, Van Dyke says.
“Canadians have an extraordinary amount of food waste,” she said.
According to the National Zero Waste Council, 63 per cent of food waste in Canada could have been consumed.
Some food waste is inevitable, such as coffee grounds, bones and peels, but the amount of food that could have been eaten adds up to a total of $17 billion, the data says.
Van Dyke says the prices of certain locally-produced foods are more flexible than others.
Consumers can save a lot on vegetables by purchasing them from a greenhouse, but meat from a rancher tends to be sold in bulk, making it affordable for many people, she said.
One solution to this conundrum is to eat less meat, replacing it with legumes, chickpeas, beans and lentils.
“They’re high in protein, high in fibre, high in iron, low in fat. They’re part of a healthy diet,” said Van Dyke. “They’re way less expensive than meat and we have a lot of producers in Alberta who grow those crops.”
However, she says the long-term impacts of climate change should concern everyone in southern Alberta, with its already-arid conditions.
“It’s going to have a devastating effect on local agriculture within this area,” said Van Dyke.
