Various parts of the world have seen societal unrest, with people rebelling against rising food and energy costs. Drought conditions prevailing in prairie states and provinces in North America, along with diversion of corn from food stock to alternate energy source have also hit the market.

More people in previously under-developed markets are now challenging for their right to increasingly scarce resources, from food to energy, causing shortages and higher prices.

In Canada, where consumers are far more sheltered from high costs in those areas than most parts of the world, and where the weekly food shopping basket cost has represented a fairly low percentage of a family's quality-of-life outlay, there has been a new, creeping escalation of costs.

Energy, with the exception of natural gas for home heating, has steadily risen in cost. And energy costs related to the production of all commodities including food, along with transportation costs also adds to the price of products and food as well.

Yet, in Canada, even though the elevation in cost of basic provisions and basic foodstuffs has now begun to rise, at a rate that has escalated the cost of living sharply, Canadian consumers are still fortunate that despite the rise, comestibles remain moderately priced in comparison to elsewhere in the world.

Canadian shoppers can indulge themselves like few other consumers are able to do, even on relatively fixed incomes. We have an array of basic food products from all corners of the compass available to us.

And, despite the newly-inflated costs, our total food dollar spent weekly still comprises a more tolerable burden than elsewhere in the world. For which we are all grateful.