Nutritious Food Basket Report (Motion #58-14)

Approved on October 16, 2014, Sudbury & District Board of Health.

Motion

WHEREAS the Sudbury & District Board of Health annually monitors the cost of healthy eating in the Sudbury & District Health Unit (SDHU) area in accordance with the Nutritious Food Basket Protocol and the Population Health Assessment and Surveillance Protocol per the Ontario Public Health Standards, 2008; and

WHEREAS the 2014 costing results continue to show that individuals and families living on social assistance, or low incomes, cannot afford healthy food after paying for housing and other necessities and therefore may be at higher risk for food insecurity;

WHEREAS food insecurity has serious consequences for mental, physical and social health of both children and adults;

WHEREAS although Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy – Realizing Our Potential makes commitments to reducing poverty, its changes to the social assistance system are inadequate to ensure individuals and families will no longer live in poverty;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Sudbury & District Board of Health continue to urge the Province to further increase social assistance rates to reflect the actual cost of nutritious food and housing by considering the annual results of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s Nutritious Food Basket and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Rental Income (Ontario) reports;

FURTHER THAT the Sudbury & District Board of Health request that the Province index social assistance rates to inflation (i.e. the Ontario Consumer Price Index) to keep up with the rising cost of living;

FURTHER THAT the Sudbury & District Board of Health request the Province to include consideration of food insecurity as an indicator of deprivation to measure progress of Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy;

FURTHER THAT the Sudbury & District Board of Health share this motion and supporting materials with appropriate community agencies, boards, and municipalities throughout the SDHU catchment area.

---

This item was last modified on June 12, 2015