Posthaste: Strapped by inflation, Canadians worry high food prices will hurt their health

financialpost.com:

Good morning,

Ottawa had some tough words for grocers this week.

The federal government yesterday outlined the first steps of a plan to stabilize food inflation which has blown into a contentious political issue in this country.

Grocery inflation hit the double digits during the pandemic and though it has eased (6.9 per cent in August), prices remain stubbornly above the overall inflation rate.

After meeting with heads of the country’s largest grocers in Ottawa last month, Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said Thursday that the top five grocery chains have agreed to support efforts to restore price stability.

He promised Canadians would see more discounts, price freezes and price-matching campaigns and if the food industry didn’t deliver the government would take further action including a potential tax on grocers.

Canadians have been vocal in their criticism of the federal government about rising prices and earlier this week a survey underlined just how much food inflation is affecting their lives.

The study led by the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University found a disturbing trend: high food prices appear to be compelling Canadians to make dietary choices they are not entirely comfortable with.

More than 45 per cent of the more than 5,000 polled said cost had become a priority over nutritional value in their grocery shopping.  And 63 per cent said they were also concerned that compromising nutrition because of high food prices may hurt their health in the long run.

How are they compromising?

Almost half said they were cutting the amount of meat or protein in their diets because of higher food costs, a greater number than last year, the survey said.

“Generally speaking, Canadians are actually