Cost of healthy eating rises locally

The 2018 Cost of Healthy Eating Report is out and it shows it costs $884 a month for a local family of four to eat a basic healthy diet.

That’s up $6 from the 2017 report.

The North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit says one in seven households in the North Bay and Parry Sound Districts are food insecure.

That means they don’t have enough money to buy healthy food, highlighting low income as the underlying issue.

“Food insecurity is a serious public health problem. It greatly impacts health and well-being,” says Erin Reyce, Public Health Dietitian at the Health Unit. “Being food insecure increases the risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and depression, and in turn, is associated with higher health care costs.”

She adds that income-related policy measures need to be strengthened in Ontario to reduce poverty rates, particularly social assistance.

The Health Unit, meantime, has passed a resolution in support of a bill that calls for a social assistance research commission to be established.

Officials say it involve a group of experts making recommendations on social assistance policy, including rates that reflect the real cost of living in Ontario.

(File photo)