Healthy eating ‘impossible’ for low income households: Report - CTV News [2024-01-25]

It’s never cost more to fill your grocery cart in Huron and Perth counties.

“The cost for a family of four would be $267 per week, or $1,155 per month,” said Amy Macdonald, dietician with Huron-Perth Public Health.

The report ‘Real Cost of Eating Healthy’ paints an unsustainable picture of the rising cost of living in 2023, especially on low income households.

“What we really see is the people who are most impacted, are those living on social assistance. These incomes just aren’t keeping up with the cost of living. It’s impossible to be able to meet those needs on that cost,” said MacDonald.

The health unit’s report, which priced 61 food items at eight local grocery stores to find the average retail prices of a typical grocery bill, show that a family of four on Ontario Works needs to spend 41 per cent of income on food to meet Canada’s Food Guide.