Food prices have risen sharply since 2020, hitting historic highs in 2022 and 2023 and continuing to climb through 2024 and 2025. Meanwhile, food insecurity is surging across Quebec. Nearly one in five households struggles to put food on the table, and food banks are facing ever-increasing demand. Food Banks of Quebec estimates that requests for assistance will climb to 3.2 million per month by 2027.
To ease the burden on households, the federal government announced a new grocery and essential needs benefit in early 2026. Yet, an important question remains: are measures like this truly effective if today’s inflation is actually masking deeper structural problems, rather than just temporary shocks?
What Is the Right to Food?
Recognized by international treaties to which Canada and Quebec are signatories, the right to food is a fundamental human right. It means that everyone should be able to eat enough, with dignity, without having to choose between feeding themselves and meeting other basic needs. In other words, feeding oneself is neither a luxury nor a privilege, but an essential human right. Yet, to date, no provincial framework law or public policy fully recognizes this right in Quebec.
Food Insecurity: Individual Problem or Collective Issue?
Our food choices are far from entirely free. They are shaped—and very often limited—by our environment, the economic climate, social inequalities, and public policies. In Quebec, the grocery sector is highly concentrated. Three major players—Metro Inc., Sobeys, and Loblaw Companies Ltd.—dominate most of the market, leaving little room for meaningful large-scale competition. Observing current trends, a fundamental question arises: should the primary purpose of our food system be, first and foremost, to feed the population?
Between rising prices, the record profits of certain chains, and the growing number of families—including those in the farming community—who struggle to feed themselves, doubt is setting in: who does the current food system really serve?
