The latest Real Cost of Eating report from Huron Perth Public Health shows that food prices continue to exceed a sustainable rate for the lowest income earners.
The Health Unit released its annual report on local food insecurity this week, which found that in 2024, the cost of groceries for a family of four in Huron Perth was $309 per week, or $1,338 per month.
That's an adjusted increase of 11.6 per cent compared to 2023.
According to the report, those receiving social assistance could spend nearly half their monthly income on food alone. For a family of four making minimum wage, that would represent about 30 per cent of their monthly income.
Around 20 per cent of Canadians have reported experiencing some kind of food insecurity.
Amy MacDonald, Public Health Dietitian with HPPH, said that the report is about raising awareness, because the cause needs to be addressed by higher levels of government.
"Year over year, we see that for people living on a low income, they just don't have enough money to meet Canada’s Food Guide recommendations," she said. "The research shows the best way to fix it is to focus on increasing incomes, because that's the root cause, is because of financial constraints."
In its report, the Health Unit said the most effective way to reduce household food insecurity is to make poverty reduction a political priority.
Policy options suggested include a basic income guarantee and a fully-funded Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) at the federal level, while provincially it calls for regular increases to minimum wage and increased social assistance rates.
Also new for this year was a request for expanding the supply of non-market housing.
"There's lots of conversation happening locally, Huron Perth United Way, the County of Huron, the City of Stratford, are all talking about how we really do need to address the current housing crisis and the most effective way is to look at things like non-market, non-profit and supportive housing supply," said MacDonald.
You can find the full report at the HPPH website.