Nearly half of Canadians choosing cost over nutrition when buying food due to high prices: survey
CTV
Under pressure from high food prices, a new survey shows almost half of Canadians are prioritizing the cost of their groceries instead of nutrition.
Under pressure from high food prices, a new survey shows almost half of Canadians are prioritizing the cost of their groceries instead of nutrition.
The results from Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab in Halifax and the consumer data company Caddle found that 45.5 per cent of those surveyed are placing a greater emphasis on cost, rather than nutritional value, when it comes to the food they buy.
At the same time, 63.3 per cent say they are also concerned that compromising on nutrition will negatively affect their long-term health.
Asked if they reduced the amount of meat or protein they bought due to high food costs, 49.2 per cent said they had.
"But generally speaking, Canadians are actually concerned about their own health due to higher food prices over the long term. That's three out of five Canadians, which is a lot," Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab, told CTV News Channel on Wednesday.
The report says those with higher incomes "unsurprisingly" were generally less likely to prioritize cost or be concerned about losing nutrition due to the high price of food.
"Of course, there's always a way to balance things, regardless of what happens to food prices," Charlebois said.
