Children prepare school lunches with their father in Toronto. The average family of four is expected to spend more than $17,500 on groceries next year.

Expect food to take up a bigger share of household budgets next year.

The latest Food Price Report produced by several Canadian universities is projecting an average family of four will pay an estimated $994.63 more for food in 2026 than this year because of issues like trade and climate change .

The increase, making for an estimated total bill of $17,571.79, comes from a projected 4 to 6-per-cent inflation rate for food next year, according to the report produced by the agri-food analytics lab at Dalhousie University in partnership with several other universities.

The inflation rate is higher than the roughly 4 per cent seen this y

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