Household food insecurity is not having enough money to buy food. Individuals and families living on low incomes struggle the most to cover the cost of their rent, food, and other necessities.
Food is often sacrificed to pay for other costs of living. For people whose incomes are social assistance or minimum wage work, the cost of food and rent is likely to use up most of their income, and in some cases uses all of it, and more. From our 2022 Nutritious Food Basket survey we know that a family of four with income from Ontario Works would spend 95% of their income on food and rent and an adult in a bachelor apartment with income from Ontario Works would need 161% of their income to cover these costs.
Check out Ontario Dietitians in Public Health's No Money for Food is…Cent$less provincial campaign at https://www.odph.ca/centsless
Why should we be concerned?
- 1 in 8 Simcoe Muskoka households are food insecure . Learn more about the cost of healthy eating in Simcoe Muskoka
- People who experience food insecurity have poorer physical and mental health and are less able to participate in their community
- Individuals who experience the most severe food insecurity can cost the health care system up to 121% more money
- Only 1 out of 5 food insecure people will visit a food bank
What can be done?
To make sure that everyone can afford to feed themselves and their families it is important to:
- Increase social assistance rates to match real living costs, indexed to inflation,
- Support fair workplaces and good jobs with regular hours and benefits,
- Increase minimum wage, and
- Provide a basic income for all Ontarians.
More resources
The resources below are printable, if you have a colour printer. If you would like to receive printed copies of these, please contact us through Health Connection.
