The National Post reports in its Thursday, Dec. 4, edition that a family of four can expect to pay nearly $1,000 more on food in the coming year than in 2025, according to Canada's Food Price Report 2026. The Post's Laura Brehaut writes that food prices may increase by up to 6 per cent next year, with meat rising by 5 to 7 per cent. The report found that a typical four-person household could face an annual food bill of up to $17,571.79 -- an increase of as much as $994.63 compared with 2025. Sylvain Charlebois, director of Dalhousie University's Agri-food Analytics Lab, said if these estimates are accurate, "That would mean that food prices will have gone up by more than 30 per cent since 2020, which is quite a bit." The 2025 edition of the report correctly predicted an overall rise of 3 to 5 per cent. According to the latest Consumer Price Index report, food inflation stands at 3.4 per cent, which falls within the expected range. Mr. Charlebois said as true for 2026 as it was for 2025, meat remains "the biggest story." Chicken, which many Canadians chose as a "more affordable and familiar protein source" in 2025, is one of the report's watch-for items, and it is only predicted to become more expensive.