OttawaIt’s not just families facing the growing sticker shock at grocery store these days: Food banks like the Barrhaven Food Cupboard are staring down the prospect of ever-growing grocery bills, too. New forecast offers no solace for families, or for charities that feed the needyGuy Quenneville · CBC News · Posted: Dec 04, 2025 5:51 PM EST | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 2 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Matt Triemstra, communications director for the Barrhaven Food Cupboard, says the rising cost of groceries impacts his organization, too. (Aya Dufour/CBC)It’s not just families facing the growing sticker shock at grocery store these days: Food banks like the Barrhaven Food Cupboard are staring down the prospect of ever-growing grocery bills, too. With food prices expected to continue rising in 2026, the volunteer-run food bank says its own monthly grocery bill will rise as well. “We still are going to buy. We don’t want to turn anybody away, but it just means we need to fundraise more to make up the difference,” spokesperson Matt Triemstra told CBC’s All In A Day this week. Triemstra’s remarks come in the wake of a new report from Dalhousie University estimating that the average family of four will spend over $16,000 on food this year. That’s up $800 from 2024, and 2026 is only expected to get worse, according to the report. “We are fortunate that we haven’t had to put [in] caps yet, but we are cognizant that that day is coming,” Triemstra.Barrhaven Food Cupboard operates out of the Walter Baker Sports Centre and provides canned items and non-perishable goods to an average of 700 families a month, up 50 per cent from last year. It takes donations, but also buys food that it then gives out. LISTEN | More from the Barrhaven Food Cupboard:8:42Barrhaven Food Cupboard braces for rising food pricesFood prices in Canada are expected to rise by four to six per cent next year, putting added pressure on a fully community-supported food bank like the Barrhaven Food Cupboard. The organization’s Matt Triemstra explains how these increases will affect the Food Cupboard’s ability to support those in need.It’s not the only local group facing pressure as grocery prices surge. The Ottawa Food Bank’s network of agencies have seen a total of 588,000 visits this year, double the number of visits in 2019. Family incomes “are simply not keeping pace,” spokesperson Tricia Johnson said. The only durable solution is co-ordinated policy from different levels of government, she added. With files from Campbell Macdiarmid and CBC’s All In A Day
Barrhaven Food Cupboard bracing for rising grocery prices
