Grey Bruce Public Health’s latest local report on food affordability says incomes and social assistance rates are failing to keep pace with escalating costs.
Public Health says almost one in five Grey-Bruce households struggles to purchase the food they need and are food insecure. They add, the Canada Food Price Report from Dalhousie University is projecting overall food prices to increase by 2.5 per cent in 2024.
The report also notes, food charity cannot be expected to fix an income problem. Public Health Manager Jason Weppler notes, “Visiting a food bank would be a very short-term solution, but we need to look at how can we improve the income supports for individuals and families that may be struggling.”
The local public health report, called The Cost of Eating Well & The Urgent Issue of Food Insecurity, finds the cost of groceries for a a single adult male in 2023 was $468 a month. A family of four in Grey-Bruce was $301 a week or $1,305 a month in 2023.
Public Health says if that particular family receives Ontario Works, they would have to spend 47 per cent of their monthly income on food to meet Canada’s Food Guide recommendations.
They say after covering rent and groceries, they would be left with $238 a month to cover all other expenses, including utilities, transportation, and medication.
For the 2023 Cost of Eating Well report, Public Health dietitians collected data on the lowest costs of 61 food items in 12 grocery stores from across Grey-Bruce.
The items are based on Canada’s food guide (vegetables and fruit, whole grain foods, and protein foods). The survey assumes people have the knowledge, equipment, and skills to prepare food mostly from scratch. Convenience foods and toiletries were not included.
Public Health Manager Jason Weppler says, “These scenarios clearly show that our social safety net is failing to meet basic, essential needs of housing and food.”
One of the recommendations from Public Health is access to Community Volunteer Income Tax Programs. Public Health says, from March to June 2023, two Grey Bruce organizations helped 332 residents access over $1 million in income benefits, tax credits and refunds across five municipalities. They say on average, each beneficiary received $3,100.
Screen Shot from Public Health Grey Bruce report: The Cost of Eating Well & The Urgent Issue of Food Insecurity