A big tax on the poor

Food prices are playing catch up with real estate insanity:

According to Statistics Canada, food prices are up 2.7 per cent over the past 12 months. But, new research from Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab published Wednesday shows the food inflation rate in Canada is closer to five per cent.

Meat products have seen the largest price spike, with Statistics Canada data noting those products have become 10 per cent more expensive over the past six months.

At my local grocery store, prime rib roast used to be on sale for $5 per pound three years ago. Last year, it was $7. Today? $9.

Canadians have also noticed increasing use of a strategy known as “shrinkflation,” the study found, whereby food producers sell products with less quantities or volume without reducing the price. Almost three quarters of respondents (73.5 per cent) said they were aware of certain food products that have shrunk, despite prices either remaining the same or increasing.

Oh, that has been happening for many years. It's quite common with snack bars, chips, cookies, ice cream, etc. The most recent that I've noticed is bags of chips from 300 grams to 200 or 200 to 150 grams.