A new poll shows that most British Columbia residents are unaware how the ongoing trade feud with the United States will impact their grocery bills.
BC-based Research Co. conducted a survey of British Columbians and found that only 36% of respondents realize how much fruit imports come from the United States.
Canada gets just over one-third of its fruit from our neighbours to the south.
For vegetables found in grocery stores, 67% are imported from the United States, but only 16% of survey respondents were aware of how much Canada relies on US produce.
Additionally, Research Co. found that 55% of respondents are confident that food security would be impacted due to trade tariffs.
When asked what grocery items they believed had gone up in price over the last six months, British Columbians said that all categories—fruits, vegetables, beef, chicken, frozen meals, cereal and bread—had all become more expensive.
The survey asked BC respondents who, or what, they believed was responsible for these rising grocery costs, and most of the blame was assigned to governmental action.
According to the survey, 29% blame the government for rising food prices, 25% blame global political conflicts, 18% say the actions of supermarket and grocery store chains are to blame and 11% say prices are rising because of climate change.
A very small percentage of respondents blamed manufacturers, labour and supply setbacks and farmers/growers.
In an effort to buy Canadian goods, the majority of respondents say they would pay up to 10% more for non-American food sources, but support fell as those cost increments rose.
Additionally, 62% of respondents said they don’t mind paying more for produce grown within BC.
To bring grocery prices back down, many respondents believe that the government can do something more.
The survey shows that 73% say that the BC government could do more to bring costs down and 77% think the federal government could take action.
The NDP have been pushing hard with both the Liberals and Conservatives at the federal level to put more pressure on grocery chain CEOs to bring prices down.
The Conservatives have been pushing back on this notion, with some of their biggest financial supporters being the very CEOs that the NDP want to be impacted.
What do you think needs to happen to bring down the price of groceries and food in BC? Let us know in the comments.
