Regina shoppers seeing higher produce prices

Shoppers in Regina have been noticing the price tags on those apples, tomatoes, and heads of lettuce have been inching higher and higher at the grocery store.

“Prices are ridiculous,” said one man at Superstore on Sunday. “I don’t buy as much as I used to, more selective in what I buy.”

One woman said it costs a lot more now to buy the groceries she’s always gotten, but she hasn’t changed her buying habits.

“You need what you need, so I still get the vegetables that we always have gotten.”

According to “The Food Price Report” released by the Food Institute at the University of Guelph last month, the price of vegetables in Canada went up 10 per cent in 2015, while the price of fruit and nuts rose nine per cent – quite a bit higher than inflation.

The report blamed the increase a drought in several food-producing U.S. states like California, and on the plummeting Canadian dollar.

“These categories are known to be highly vulnerable to currency fluctuations as 81% of all vegetables and fruits consumed in Canada are imported,” read the report.

It predicted the price of vegetables and fruit would rise in 2016 as well, but only by about two to five per cent.