The closing of borders during the pandemic and the current war between Ukraine and Russia (which together represent 30% of the world’s grain exports) make us aware of the need to ensure our own security. food for our population. It is moreover a duty of the State, whose primary mission is to be the guarantor of the common good. The Legault government admitted this, but its intervention was limited to granting an electoral check of $500 to all citizens earning less than $100,000 a year. But what is such a check worth over the next two years to reduce the grocery bill, which will not stop climbing?
The poorest 20% of us have experienced this food insecurity for a long time, but a growing portion of the population is starting to experience it following a 40% increase in food prices a year. last and 30% this year, according to regular evaluations done in grocery stores. In fact, several community organizations that I work with report a 50% increase in the demand for food support: it is no longer just social assistance recipients who request it, but low-wage earners who can no longer to feed their families.
Globally, with the current increase in fuel prices and climate change that puts crops at risk, we see the possibility of experiencing one of the worst food crises in a long time. This inflation of food prices here is therefore not about to slow down, according to experts, with a major increase in prices for the next two years if we let the market continue to determine the way forward in food. This private market primarily responds to the interests of its shareholders; it’s normal, the price reduction is not in its DNA.
The state and basic foods
It can’t go on like this any longer. We can no longer watch things deteriorate like this without targeting the main body with the means to change things, the state. As it already does with the regulation of electricity rates, rent increases, raising the minimum wage and, most recently, air travel rates in eastern Quebec, the government must intervene to establish rules on the prices of certain staple foods to enable everyone to eat from our productions and the producers involved to enjoy a decent income.
We are talking here about a food basket of some foods that we produce in Quebec, such as root vegetables, certain agricultural products under supply management (dairy products, poultry and eggs) and others to be determined with the producers concerned. , in particular those receiving financial assistance from the State, such as greenhouse market gardeners. This would also be the best way to encourage purchases here by making these products even more accessible, while revitalizing the economy.
This demand for state intervention to regulate the prices of certain foods is nothing new in Quebec. In fact, the Act respecting the marketing of agricultural, food and fish products (RSQ, c. M-35.1) already confers on the Régie des marchés financiers du Québec the power to set by regulation the price of any dairy product in Quebec. […] Several countries have already used it historically in exceptional situations, such as France, Germany and the United States.
In fact, the issue here is to recognize that eating enough is an essential function of life and that the State must act to ensure its prevalence, as it does for other essential needs in a Nordic country like ours. , such as electricity and housing.
This price regulation proposal therefore does not concern the approximately 40,000 products offered in stores, but only a few basic products to be determined with the social actors concerned. It is a solution ensuring food accessibility for the entire population and food security for the poorest among us who are struggling to make ends meet.
This solution deserves to be explored and seriously discussed in a societal debate that would take into account the interests of the vast majority, and not just the interests of a few.