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Healthy food out of reach for poor, report says

Healthy food continues to be out of reach for the city's poorest citizens, according to the Sudbury and District Health Unit.
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Eve Vanquette and Lauren Reed-Comeau empty a bucket of dirt into a garden bed on Louis Street. It is the first initiative of the newly-formed Louis Street Community Association. Photo by Jenny Jelen.
Healthy food continues to be out of reach for the city's poorest citizens, according to the Sudbury and District Health Unit.

The health unit's annual Nutritious Food Basket Report shows it costs about $189 a week, or $818 per month, to feed a family of four consisting of two parents and two children, in the Sudbury and Manitoulin areas.

The total cost in the report is calculated by averaging the lowest retail prices for each of the 67 food items, in specified quantities, as identified by the Ministry of Health Promotion and Sport. These foods meet the current nutrition recommendations for individuals of different ages and genders.

Food prices have jumped substantially over the past year. Last year's food basket report showed it cost $740 for a family of four to purchase healthy food for a month.

A family of four on Ontario Works receives a monthly income of $2,011, according to the report. Subtract $965 for a three-bedroom apartment and $818 for nutritious food, and they're left with just $228 for all of their other expenses.

Single people on Ontario Works, who receive a monthly income of $635, are even worse off, the report said. Subtract $534 for a bachelor apartment and $274 for nutritious food for a month, and they'd be $173 in debt at the end of the month.

A family of four living on one full-time minimum wage job also feels the pinch. Once $965 for rent and $818 for food is subtracted from the family's monthly income of $2,619, they'd be left with $836 for all other expenses.

Bridget King, a public health nutritionist at the health unit, said those on social assistance do a number of things to survive, including going to food banks and free meal programs, and receiving food from family and friends.

“It would be different for each person,” she said. “But definitely, they're not able to eat a healthy diet. Right away, you know that.”

The report only looks at rent and the cost of food, and there's so much else people need to spend money on, King said.

“For example, if you want to apply for a job, you've got to have clothes, and you need access to a phone or Internet, or some way of communicating with the outer world,” she said.

The report urges action against poverty as a way to improve people's access to nutritious food.

“One of the messages we're always taking is to reflect the nutritious food basket in the amount needed for social assistance rates given to people,” King said.

“That certainly isn't there.”

Those with low incomes are often forced to choose between paying the rent and buying food and other necessities, the report said.

Individuals from households with low incomes are more likely to report poor health and multiple chronic conditions, including major depression, heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure, according to the report.

Treating and managing these chronic conditions costs more than it does to prevent them, the report said.

While eliminating poverty is an admittedly “lofty” goal, King said there are programs which are taking steps in that direction.

“There are community-based programs that can fill in the gaps around food,” she said. “For example, community gardening, food box programs and community kitchens.”

King said the yearly report is important because it gives a snapshot of how citizens are faring in terms of being able to afford to purchase food.

“If minimum wage or Ontario Works were to change, then we'd be to demonstrate that now people can afford to eat healthy,” she said.

To view the Nutritious Food Basket Report, go to www.sdhu.com and enter “food basket” in the search bar.

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Heidi Ulrichsen

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