Have you ever wondered who pays more for their groceries? Canadians? Or Americans? It’s hard to frame an informed opinion just from the ‘evidence’ on hand. There’s a lot of ‘noise’ in the mix. But whatever you thought, you’ll probably be surprised…
The FFB set out to discover who pays more for their groceries: Canadians or Americans? It’s hard to figure out, based on the raw evidence at hand. So many uncertainties, hazy ‘facts’, and fuzzy logic….
Many fractors in play
It’s almost impossible to keep track of all the factors in play: Oil prices (which affect cost of food transportation and farm operations), tariffs (which seem to change week-to-week), seasonal fluct-uations (depending on harvest times for various produce items), weather surprises (including droughts, floods. tornadoes, hail and temperature extremes), and – of course – the cumulative and progressing effects of climate change.
And even more difficult than just keeping track of the variables is the cherished goal of predicting what food prices will do in the future.
AI to the rescue
Believe it or not! Google AI (GAI) provided the answer to the FFB’s quest for enlightenment. In utter frustration, we let the new search tool loose on our question of the day. And what it returned with surprised everyone involved.
GAI first came back with a bunch of conflicting and widely varying numbers. We initially felt over-whelmed. And pretty depressed at our prospects for finding any reliable stats.
But one intriguing thing GAI did produce was a link to groceriestracker.com, a website that keeps tabs on food prices and expresses them (conveniently for us) in terms of the cost for individuals, couples and families, for a week or a month. Statistics we can all relate to.
‘Tracker says…’
In the blink of an eye, we were able to calculate the average food cost per week for a family of 4 comprised of 2 adults, 1 teen, and 1 child.
The tracker said our family of four was paying an average of (C)$238 per week on food in Canada. In the US, the tracker reported the family was paying an average of (US)$211 per week.
But that doesn’t take into account the difference between the two currencies…
‘Getting Wise’
When we converted the Canadian figure to US dollars, using the WISE Currency Converter, we were shocked. It revealed that, in comparable US dollars, Canadians are paying just $168 per week for that family of four.
That’s still about (US)$43 more than Canadians. Compare that to the Australian figure, which works out to (US)$156. for our family of four. The numbers suggest Americans are paying more for groceries than almost everybody else in the developed world…
My take
Prices are still too high – WAY too high. But Americans appear to be paying the price for their President’s tariffs on imported goods. President Trump insists exporting countries are paying the tariffs on food coming into the US from abroad. But simple economics dictates that Americans are paying the tariffs. First the importers, then the distributors, then the retailers. And finally, consumers.
If all things were equal, Canadians and Americans would be paying about the same for their food. But ‘things’ are never equal in today’s world. Especially with someone like Trump at the helm in the US.
~ Maggie J.