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Nutritious Food Basket

Each year, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit conducts the Nutritious Food Basket survey.  In May of 2010, Health Unit staff visited a sample of eight grocery stores from different parts of Simcoe Muskoka to record the price of 67 specific food items. This information is used to determine up-to-date local figures for how much it costs to eat a nutritious diet. The results of the survey are also used to assess whether or not a healthy diet based on snacks and meals prepared at home is affordable for lower income Simcoe Muskoka residents.

According to the 2010 survey results, a “reference” family of four living in Simcoe Muskoka would need to spend $160.39 each week ($694.49 per month) for a nutritious basket of food that could be used to prepare meals and snacks consistent with healthy eating patterns recommended in Canada’s Food Guide (Table 1).  The cost would increase if a female family member was pregnant or breastfeeding.  In comparison, the provincial average cost of the Nutritious Food Basket was $169.17 per week ($732.51 per month).

Weekly costs of eating healthy vary by sex and age (Table 1).  It costs $51.15 per week ($221.48 per month) to feed a Simcoe Muskoka male between the ages of 14 to 18 years compared to $21.04 ($91.10 per month) for a girl aged 2 to 3 years.  For males and females across all age groups, the average weekly cost of the Nutritious Food Basket in Simcoe Muskoka is a little less than the provincial average.

Table 1

People with limited incomes struggle to afford a healthy diet. Low income families tend to eat fewer nutrient-rich foods such as vegetables, fruit and milk products than higher income families do. They also report more health problems and chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. Some evidence shows that children from food-insecure families tend to have poorer social skills and do less well at school.

Nutritious Food Basket survey results and apartment rents for Simcoe Muskoka (from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation) clearly show that income from social assistance, pensions or minimum wage employment is not nearly enough to cover the cost of healthy food, housing and other basic expenses for individuals and families in our area.

The difference between a family’s food plus housing cost and their income can be a useful indicator of food security. Eight per cent (8.4%, 95% confidence interval 6.9%, 10.0%) of households reported experiencing moderate to severe food insecurity at least once in the past 12 months, according to the Canadian Community Health Survey 2007/2008.  The relationship between income and food security is clear – the less money available, the more food insecure household members feel.  As shown in Figure 1, nearly one-third (30.3%, 95% confidence interval 22.1%, 38.4%) of households earning less than $20,000 per year reported being unable to afford the food they needed in the last 12 months compared to 3.2% (95% confidence interval 1.5%, 4.9%) of households that earned between $60,000 and $99,999 per year.

Figure 1

Based on local 2010 Nutritious Food Basket survey results and average apartment rents, a middle-income family of four living in our area would need to spend 29.9% of their monthly income on food and rent.

By comparison, residents of Simcoe and Muskoka receiving social assistance, pension income or a minimum wage would need to use much more of their income to cover basic food and housing costs. For example, when income from one full time minimum wage job ($10.25 per hour) is the income source for a Simcoe Muskoka family of four, 68.7% of the family’s income would be needed to pay for the basic necessities of food and rent (Table 2).

Table 2