Rising food costs push people to food banks, says social justice advocate

The cost of food is expected to rise in the new year and that's going to push more people toward using food banks said Chantal Landry, provincial secretary of the Common Front for Social Justice.

Landry, speaking to Information Morning Moncton, says the 2016 food price report from the University of Guelph predicts price increases of between two and four per cent, above the general rate of inflation.

Landry says that will amount to an extra $345 per year in food costs and that's bad news for people on low or fixed incomes in New Brunswick.

It creates more stress.- Chantal Landry, Common Front for Social Justice

"If you think about it, more money to go towards food, that means there's going to be more people at a food bank, which should be an emergency … but now it seems to be a staple."

The report says prices will increase principally for meat, fruit, nuts, and vegetables, which Landry pointed out are not luxury items, but necessities for good health.

"This affects peoples' health, it affects peoples' mental health, it creates more stress," she said.

Landry says one solution is an increase in the minimum wage. She says people who make minimum wage are struggling, because it is difficult to survive on $10.30 per hour.

"It's great that it increased in 2014, that's fantastic, but that's the only increase we're going to see between now and 2017, when [the cost of] everything else is going to be increasing," Landry said.