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Don’t expect the new year to ring in lower grocery bills.

The latest edition of Canada’s Food Price Report, produced annually by several universities, projects that an average family of four will pay close to $1,000 more for food in 2026 than this year — for a total bill of $17,571.79.

The report pegs the rate of food inflation at somewhere between four and six per cent, with items such as meat, baked goods and vegetables seeing the biggest price jumps.

What’s driving the ever-rising prices? What can shoppers do to find some relief? Our guest on tonight’s Closer Look podcast is Professor Sadaf Mollaei, an associate professor at the University of Guelph’s School of Hospitality, Food and Tourism Management.

Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, and produced by Derek Turner, Closer Look is a new daily podcast that goes way beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers.

Fresh episodes drop every Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. right in your local news feed — and on the show’s dedicated website: closerlookpodcast.ca. Of course, you can also find us wherever you get your favourite podcasts.

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