I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. Months ago, I predicted that Canadians would switch to cheaper cuts of Meat and eat more locally-grown Veggies – especially Root Veggies, which we can store in these latitudes all winter. Now a major survey has confirmed that’s just what’s happening…
Even they are asking what the heck is going on as a result of high food prices…
A new Harper Reid poll shows that my prediction, about folks eating less Meat as prices rise, has come to pass. We’re also, on the whole, choosing cheaper brands from the grocery shelves and eating more veggies than we did just a few years ago.
Among the highlights…
- More than 70 per cent of those polled said they’ve switched to cheaper brands for their regular food items.
- Forty per cent admitted they’ve started making less-healthy choices to save money at the grocery store.
- Almost a third of those asked say they’ve cut back significantly on Meat purchases in the past year.
- A full third (63 per cent) say the government isn’t paying enough attention to rising food prices.
- More than half of those surveyed say they’re having trouble feeding their family on the budget they allowed for food over the past year.
If things were to change back to the way they were a couple of years ago soon, I think folk would fall back into the same grocery shopping habits they used to have. That is, they’d start buying more Meat again and start buying non-local produce again. And they’d start eating healthier again. But, if the Meat producers don’t find a way to get prices back down, the change in shopping and eating habits reflected in the Harper Reid survey may just become permanent, leaving a lot of farmers with a lot of debt on their hands.
Remember, I told you so…
~ Maggie J.