"I would not have had children": Canadian mother struggles amid soaring food costs
“If I could do it over again, I would not have had children knowing what I see now.”
Fifty-year-old Marianne Larson has done everything she can think of to save money as the cost of living soars year after year, from changing her light source to purchasing a hybrid car, shopping bargains, and being “meticulous” about tracking her spending. However, it hasn’t been enough to rid her worries over the price of a basic necessity.
Larson says no matter what she does, she still can’t keep up with the rising cost of food.
Larson has tried meal kit delivery service, shopping sales, limiting her groceries to the essentials, and changing her diet, but still, “it’s getting harder to keep up now,” she said.
A screengrab of the Kelowna Rant and Rave post. (Facebook)
On Facebook, the Kelowna, BC resident shared a photo of her groceries, which she had delivered to her home from Walmart. The photo is of a cardboard box that fits over the stovetop oven with groceries, mainly containing non-perishable foods. It cost her $90, she said.
“It’s starting to wear me down now,” she wrote on Facebook. “This is getting ridiculous.”
Since she nearly exclusively grocery shops at Walmart, Larson’s been able to look back on her purchase history. In 2022, she said she was spending about $85 a week to feed herself and her teenage sons.
Despite ordering the same items and her eldest son moving out, groceries went up to $150 a week.
“You times that by 12 months, that’s a lot of money, right? So I would say I’m averaging … about $1,000 to $1,200 a year extra.”
Apart from the marshmallows, candy and Kraft Dinner, Larson said a year ago, the groceries she got this week would have cost her $40 less.
Since sharing her experience online, her post has received over 550 comments as of Wednesday afternoon. Hundreds of comments are from people admitting they are also feeling the strain of higher food costs.
“I make a decent wage, have reasonable rent and don’t have a car and still can barely put food on the table,” one person wrote.
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“Things have gotten ridiculously expensive, and it doesn’t matter what types of food we are buying either, it’s all gone way way up,” another wrote.
Others criticized Larson for eating the food she purchased, like chips, crackers and chocolate milk. But she said, “That kind of stuff lasts me six months.”
Others defended Larson, saying they can relate.
“I noticed [my elderly parents] buy a lot more cereals and have it for breakfast and sometimes for dinner and snack. A box of cereal will go a lot further and give you more meals than a pint of raspberries, strawberries or grapes and leave you less hungry,” one person wrote.
Due to a medical diagnosis, Larson said she’s stuck to a vegetarian diet, which has helped her health greatly. However, finding foods that are high in protein has been a task as many meat alternatives are expensive, she said.
“I’m not buying nearly as much anymore,” she said, adding, “I would say in the next three months. I’m gonna start struggling more and eating less. And unfortunately, I have no option.”
As time passes, Larson is not hopeful the cost of living will improve, and she believes it will take a toll on Canadians’ mental and physical health.
She told Daily Hive that when she was growing up, working as a paramedic, she thought she’d be able to afford a home. However, an injury derailed her plans and ended her career.
Experiencing all the financial stressors over the years and seeing her eldest son try to afford to live by working three jobs, she said she’s even advised her sons not to have children.
“I’m hoping my children don’t have children of their own.
“I begged them not to. I don’t care that I’m not going to be a grandma,” she said.
“I love my boys … They don’t feel unwanted … Even my older son once he started realizing how much it costs to live on his own he said, ‘Mom, I don’t blame you for not wanting children.'”
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