High Food Prices Have Canadians Eating Less, Stockpiling Food: Poll

Fresh produce and groceries are shown at Summerhill Market in Toronto on Feb. 2, 2022. Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press

Canadians are stockpiling food and changing their eating and purchasing habits in response to rising food prices amid soaring inflation, according to a new poll.

More than 1000 Canadians surveyed were asked if they had taken any steps in the past 30 days to reduce their food costs. The majority of Canadians polled, 61 percent, said they had purchased less expensive food and 25 percent reported stockpiling food. Seventeen percent of respondents said they were eating less food.

The survey, published on Nov. 10, was commissioned by CTV News and carried out by Nanos Research between Oct. 30 and Nov. 4, by telephone and through online surveys of random Canadians.

Twenty-nine percent of respondents said they had made no changes in their buying or eating habits. Six percent reported using coupons to save money or purchasing based on sales.

One percent of those polled reported they had either used a food bank, purchased less food, wasted less food, or used stored food, gardened, hunted, or foraged for food.

Women were more likely to cope with rising prices by buying less expensive food, about 64 percent, and only 23 percent of women said they had made no changes to their food habits. Thirty-four percent of men said they hadn’t made any changes, while 57 percent of men said they were spending less on food.

Seventeen percent of both men and women responded they had eaten less food in the last month.

Younger Canadians Spending Less

There were some disparities in the survey results among various demographics.

Younger Canadians aged 18-34 were most likely to say they had spent less on food, with 70 percent cutting back. Only about half of those over age 55 responded saying they were buying less expensive food.

Sixty-five percent of middle-aged Canadians from 35-54 responded they changed their grocery purchasing to save money.

Regional differences also showed up in the poll.

B.C. residents reported stockpiling food the least at 21 percent while Quebec residents reported stockpiling the most at 33 percent. Atlantic Canada followed closely behind, with 29 percent of those surveyed reporting they stockpiled food. In addition, more than one in five respondents from the Maritimes also reported they were eating less.