[projekktor id=’22679′]

As you push your cart around the grocery store you may suffer from sticker shock. The price of food seems to be sky rocketing.

The farther our loonie falls the higher the prices we’re paying to put food on the table and according to researchers at the University of Guelph Food Institute, the cost of groceries will continue to climb.

The average Canadian household will spend $8,631 on food this year. Families should expect to pay about $345 more in 2016 for the same amount of food as in 2015.

We can expect the cost of meat to increase by 2.5% to 4.5%, fruits and nuts the same and vegetables between 2% and 4%

The main driver is the loonie, which has fallen to around 71 cents US.

More than 80% of our fruits and vegetables are imported from outside Canada, so as the loonie falls the prices goes up.

So if you’re looking to save a few bucks that may mean shopping around, buying what’s in season and substituting some of your meat for other protein sources.