Severe weather, failing crops and increasing consumer demand fueling the high cost of food is perhaps creating the perfect storm for a world food crisis.
At Vancouver's T&T Supermarket, customers are digging out more cash for their usual groceries.
"Basic stuff, like flour, pasta, bread ... it has gone up quite a bit," said shopper Gordon Kwan.
World rice stocks are at their lowest level in two decades, and as a result the price of the staple has doubled since last year.
In the U.S., Wal-mart and Costco are rationing rice for their customers.
Thailand, a major exporter of jasmine rice, is restricting exports, while countries like India and Vietnam are refusing exports altogether.
Herman Poon, marketing director of TNT Supermarkets in Vancouver, said the store has to adjust.
"We already increased the price just this week by 10, 20 per cent, and as we get delivered stock they will go up around 15 per cent and another 15 per cent," he said.
For consumers, that means one sack of rice could cost an extra eight dollars by the end of the summer.
Poon admits T&T is considering limiting the number of bags of rice per customer.
"What we're seeing is people reacting to this crisis and some people would like to so some stocking up," Poon said.
President of the Independent Grocery Association John Scott says the demand for rice and grain is increasing globally.
Consumers in Asia are eating more meat and dairy products and, as a result, more grain is needed to feed livestock.
This, at a time when corn is being used to feed cars, not people, for biofuels.
"There will be modest increases, don't get me wrong there will be modest increases,
but they'll be across the board," said Scott.
British Columbians, like most Canadians, spend nearly 10 per cent of their disposable income on groceries, and now it may seem like even more.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Janet Dirks
