FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Meat prices to drop next year, while veggie costs will rise: Report
Carnivores have moved away from beef ... but this year the beef industry can buy some love back.”
Sylvain Charlebois
Carnivores will benefit from dropping prices for animal protein in the New Year, while B.C.’s growing legion of meat-free eaters will pay more for their vegetables, according to Canada’s Food Price Report.
An “astonishing” 40 per cent of British Columbians aged 35 and under follow some variation of a meat-free diet, about three times the national average, said lead author Sylvain Charlebois, a professor of management and agriculture at Dalhousie University.
Vegetables will see the biggest price increase next year compared to other groceries, between four and six per cent, which creates “a considerable challenge to consumers who struggle to afford healthy food,” the authors say.
The price of vegetables already has gone up four per cent in the past 12 months.
“Because B.C. is so dependent on California and Mexico for fruits and vegetables, the weather effects of El Niño create extra uncertainty,” he said. “El Nino will bring more rain, but not where we need it. Parts of Mexico and the United States will not have enough rain and that will affect crops and our food supply, so we will pay more.”
The cost of meat and seafood is predicted to drop as consumers increasingly turn to plant-based proteins in vegetarian and vegan diets, he said.
The price of high-end beef already is dropping. Prime rib is 13 per cent cheaper today than it was in January, according to Statistics Canada.
That sounds like good news for the fast-growing community of devotees to the ketogenic and carnivore diets, not to mention the emerging community of “seagans”, who add fish to their vegan diet.
“Yeah, 2019 could be a good year for the carnivores,” Charlebois said. “Conscious carnivores have moved away from beef, because there are a lot of alternatives, but this year the beef industry can buy some love back from consumers.”
A straw poll on social media suggests that some shoppers will buy more animal protein as prices drop.
“Definitely (more) seafood,” CJ Marr said. “Many of my friends and relatives are turning to seaganism.”
British Columbians already spend more than the average Canadian on food and the gap is likely to widen in 2019.
The average Canadian family will spend an extra $411 on food next year, for a total of about $12,157. But prices in B.C., Alberta and Ontario will rise faster than other provinces, the report said.
“Food prices are expected to exceed the general inflation rate, so that is going to make life tricky for British Columbians,” said Charlebois.
Shoppers admit that violent price spikes on items such as fresh cauliflower can see them dropped at least temporarily from people’s kitchens.
But following a meat-free diet is generally cheaper if you are careful about how you shop, they say.
“I wait until the Gardein products are on sale, then stock up,” said Claudia Ferris, whose two daughters are vegan. “It’s super cheap if you make vegan and veggie food from scratch, but most of us are willing to pay for convenience.”