Since the onset of the pandemic, food prices have remained stubbornly high, even as grocery chains have made record profits. This has fuelled public frustration with so-called “greedflation”— a term describing large corporations raising their prices during times of crisis. In response, Canada’s Competition Bureau has made the case for more grocery retail competition, recommending policies from the creation of a grocery innovation strategy to welcoming more international players and enacting consistent pricing legislation.
Absent from this policy conversation, however, is the role of local alternative food networks, like farmers’ markets, in supporting more resilient food systems. We currently have an incomplete picture of food price dynamics in Canada because of a research gap. While the federal government has just launched to provide more transparency around pricing, little is known about food price dynamics in local food systems like farmers’ markets.
Our recent study addressed this topic by exploring how food prices have changed in farmers’ markets compared to mainstream grocery retail since the pandemic’s onset. Customers look over peppers at the St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market.
Understanding farmers’ markets is important for building more secure and resilient food systems. Farmers’ markets provide a host of benefits to both consumers and farmers. They offer a localized alternative to global supply chains, which are often susceptible to delays and shortag.