The price of vegetable oil has soared astronomically—here’s why

Food items at the grocery store and at the restaurant have increased considerably. Vegetable oil has been hit particularly hard it seems; the price of vegetable oil has indeed soared, and today we’ll look at why that is.

Why has vegetable oil been hit so hard in this incredible period of inflation?

I can still remember going grocery shopping with my grandfather when I was small. I only went that one time but it stayed with me, that single time.

First off, I have to say my grandfather knew the value of a dollar and always sought the best prices, even when it came to cooking, and keep in mind that eating was what he liked to do best in life. Well that, play cards, and watch soccer.

I didn’t see him very much, but he taught me those same ideals about saving a hard-earned dollar…a man that prided himself on making the cheapest sautéed pasta dishes with the simplest of ingredients.

Back to that one time I went shopping with him, it was the rare time my parents had to leave me off at his house, and I went to the store with him, and I remember him buying these what at the time I thought were giant aluminum containers. He put three of them in the pushcart right next to me. I remember looking up at his James Dean coif, a black cigarette over his ear and a toothpick in his mouth, and asking him what the containers were.

He smiled and looked down and in Italian said “Vegetable oil, Chico. The cheapest oil there is.”

I remembered that day, even though I didn’t see him all that much after that or the many years later. We didn’t talk much and don’t really talk much now, but that day has stayed etched in my mind.

I remember years ago when I first got married, trying to get my writing off the ground, and working odd jobs…the value of a dollar became something I cared a great deal about, trust me.

And it was at the grocery store that I applied all of my grandfather’s old tricks…the vegetable oil the biggest trick of all. I remember buying those giant containers of vegetable oil too. I mean, I used that stuff for everything it was so cheap…salads, stir fried recipes…and it sure lasted a long time.

Well, dear readers, the point of this little anecdote form my youth: Times sure change, and things change right along with them.

The surge in prices at the grocery store in general is just a small example of this, but the surge in something like vegetable oil is something that worries me and if I would speak to my grandfather, perhaps it would worry him too, although I doubt he is as worried about such things as he used to be.

Some food items have avoided inflation, as you will see at your own local grocery store, but good old vegetable oil wasn’t as lucky it seems.

According to a report at CBC News, the price of my trusty old fat source for everything sautéed or tossed has indeed gone through the roof, and here’s why…

CLIMATE CHANGE & POLITICAL UNREST.

You don’t say. Well, well, a topic—climate change at least—that keeps coming up in my pieces as of late, and across the board. I also cover sports and the climate change hasn’t yet affected that realm…or has it? Well, this isn’t a philosophical piece, so we’ll stick to the facts, so here goes:

“We’ve seen as a result of droughts around the world, but also the Ukrainian-Russian conflict, massive increase in the global price of grains,” says Simon Somogyi, who is a food professor at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada.

Naturally vegetable oil relies on the growth of vegetation and vegetation of any kind, so perhaps this is clear enough.

And as for how much the price of vegetable oil has increased…in the vegetable oil category, Statistics Canada saw an increase of a whopping $3.56 for 3 liters, and that’s in just a single year, folks.

Processed foods and fast food restaurants rely heavily on vegetable oil, or vegetable-based oils as well, hence the increase in such items in those categories as well.

In the end, we’ve given a reason to the increase and detailed exactly how much they’ve increased, but as to a solution, well, we’ve been collectively hearing a resolution to these issues for a while, but unfortunately we’ve ignored these warnings as a society—or rather the world’s leaders have ignored them or not done enough to rectify these issues—and now, well, the expression ‘what you reap, you sow’ comes to mind. We need to do better as a society; our leaders need to do better, and perhaps then, things will gradually change.

How has the price of vegetable oil been affected in your region, dear readers?