By Ashley Wiebe

Vegetable costs to rise, but growers not expected to benefit

Dec 4, 2018 | 3:39 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — When it comes to the cost of food, the province of Alberta is expected to see an above-average increase.

Researchers at the University of Guelph and Dalhousie University are predicting the average family will pay about $400 more for groceries and roughly $150 more for restaurant meals in 2019.

Meat and seafood prices are expected to drop but vegetables will see the biggest jump, rising between four and six per cent. Weather has led to poor growing conditions. There has also been an increased demand for alternative proteins.

The town of Redcliff is the greenhouse capital of the prairies, but Red Hat Co-op general manager Gillian Digman doesn’t anticipate growers will benefit financially.

She doesn’t believe the increase is enough to cover what growers are paying in things like carbon tax and the increase in minimum wage, but adds it’s great that more people have grown to be health conscious and want healthy alternatives.

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“I think its got to be a good thing,” she said. “I think looking for alternative sources is generally a good idea. Vegetables are very good for you, we all know that. So I think for the industry as a whole, it would be a good thing.”