My sympathies to the parents of young children in town trying to put food on the table.
Pushing my grocery cart back to the car last Saturday, I stared at the bill and then looked again.
About four bags of groceries came to $228.
It was barely enough food for my partner and me to get through one week of meals.
A tin of fast-food brand coffee was $23, butter about $5, bagged salad (don’t judge me) was about $10, and a pack of those little tomatoes was $8.
How must it be for the mom of two young kids in the store I saw negotiating with her littles over what treats they would buy?
We are no longer buying to feed kids, thankfully.
Our dog's food wasn't even part of our grocery bill.
Granted, since our four boys left home, we have taken to — er — assembling and reheating more than cooking. So as noted, I buy the bagged salad.
We are not the soak-dry-legumes-overnight-and-grow-our-own-kale kind of folks.
(Sorry, mom!)
But still, there were no cleaners or prescriptions in the bags.
It was all food — and a package of toilet paper for $15.
Per week, at this rate, we will spend $912 in four weeks to feed two people.
The problem, of course, is rising inflation.
According to Statistics Canada, September grocery store food prices rose 11.4%, the fastest pace year-over-year since August 1981, when it climbed 11.9%.
(I remember that 1981 increase, too, but my parents got us through with a massive garden and my dad’s hunting and fishing hauls.)
On a year-over-year basis, in September, Canadians paid more for meat — up 7.6%; dairy products — up 9.7%; bakery products — up 14.8%; and fresh vegetables — up 11.8%, according to Stats Can.
“Contributing to price increases for food and beverages were unfavourable weather, higher prices for important inputs such as fertilizer and natural gas, as well as geopolitical instability stemming from Russia's invasion of Ukraine,” reads the Stats Can online report.
(So, don't take this out on local grocery clerks! This isn't their fault. And our local stores employ many and give generously within the community.)
Add to the higher grocery receipt, our higher Squamish housing costs — Stats Can says about 5,000 locals pay 30% or more of their income on their housing — higher fuel costs, and that Santa is expected in mere weeks, and some local parents are going to be feeling more stress than ever.
Our culture is not great at talking about personal finances.
There is so much shame that comes with not having enough, even if the reason is systemic and not personal. We need to work on that.
While we collectively wait out this inflationary bump, which will end — these things always do — if you are a local who is not struggling, now would be a great time to donate a little cash or items to the Squamish Food Bank.
And to take the load off Santa, a generous donation to Community Christmas Care this year would be jolly.
The Squamish Chief office on Second Avenue will soon have its donation box out, as we always do.
For those parents struggling to make ends meet, comparing prices down every aisle, you aren’t alone.
Get help from supportive local organizations if you need it; hang on, and this too shall pass.
