MONTREAL - Just 43 days into 2012, the typical Canadian has already earned enough money in 2012 to stock the fridge for the rest of the year, according to the Longueuil-based Union of Agricultural Producers (UPA).
Canadians, on average, spend $3,583, or 11.8 percent of their income on grocery bills in one year, according to the UPA.
Based on the average personal disposable income of $30,225, the typical Canadian has already earned enough money to chow down until New Year's Day 2013.
According to 2010 statistics, Canada ranked third behind the U.S. and Singapore as having the most affordable food prices, which gave Canadians an early jump into Food Freedom Week, as the marker has been dubbed.
Canada's food prices rose slightly in 2011 but a December inflation report saw a slight fallback, leaving Canadian food considerably more affordable than in countries such as Indonesia where residents pay up to 45 percent of their disposable income to feed themselves, or China, where that total is cited at 39 percent, according to the United Nations.
With a file from The Canadian Press
