June 11, 2008
By Nadine Fownes
The Chronicle Herald - Halifax, Nova Scotia
OTHER THAN slightly higher prices for bread, flour, rice, milk and some vegetables, rising food prices haven’t hit Canadians quite as hard as the rest of the world yet, according to the economists.
Tell that to the team who calculates the cost of purchasing a healthy diet in this province.
Photo: Cutting back on meat is a good way to stretch food dollars while eating healthier, too. This saucy one-dish meal of Curried Beans and Rice features chick peas, and an assortment of crisp, colourful vegetables. (Nadine Fownes)
Between 2002 and 2007, the average cost of feeding a typical family of four in this province went up 13 per cent to $648.33 per month. That adds up to $905.16 more a year.
"The basics that Health Canada says everybody needs all cost more," says Leslie Frank, project co-ordinator for the Nova Scotia Food Costing Project.
The project, a partnership between the provincial Department of Health Promotion and researchers at Mount Saint Vincent University, measures the cost of buying Health Canada’s National Nutritious Food Basket at grocery stores around the province and then compares it to various income scenarios, family structures and basic living expenses.
"We do this because we’re concerned about food security. Do people have enough money to afford this diet?" Frank said at a recent seminar in Lower Sackville. "With the data we collect, we try to influence government policy around food security to help ensure that income assistance provides people with enough money to buy a healthy diet."
The 2007 food costing research found that many households in our province, especially families who are getting by on low-wage incomes or social assistance, simply cannot afford to fill their cupboards and refrigerators with healthy foods.
A scan of the National Nutritious Food Basket shopping list used in the food costing project shows this is a pretty bare-bones list of 66 food items representing current Health Canada nutrition recommendations and national eating patterns.
There are milk and dairy products, fruits and vegetables, breads and cereals, meats, poultry, fish and a few condiments such as strawberry jam, mayonnaise and peanut butter.
There are no extras or luxuries in this shopping cart. No jars of spaghetti sauce, no granola bars for kids’ school lunches, no herbs and spices for adding flavour to recipes, no chocolate chips or nuts for mixing into cookies.
"If you were a family (of four) on income assistance, you’d be in the hole by $80 every month if you bought this basic nutritious diet," says Frank.
"And that’s assuming that you are getting the special allowances to go to school or look for work (about $400 a month for child care and transportation). If you weren’t getting that, you’d be in the hole another $400 every month."
A woman raising two children on a minimum wage paycheque is at especially high risk for food insecurity, according to the project’s 2007 findings released this spring.
Every month, after all the expenses of shelter, utilities, transportation, clothing and food are factored in, this young mother would be in a deficit of $8.31. She’d be even worse off when her little girl turned six and she no longer received the Universal Child Care Benefit of $100 a month.
If that same woman were on welfare, she would have $127.96 a month to spend on "extras," but only if she were receiving additional financial assistance to go to school or look for work. Without that extra money, she would be even further behind.
A family of four with two people earning minimum wage (one full time, one part time) doesn’t fare much better. After basics are covered, there’s $60 left at the end of the month for extra expenses.
And just so we’re clear, Frank says, these "extras" are routine things like over-the-counter medicines, dental care, birthday gifts, school supplies and activities, household furnishings, and car and home repairs. (Statistics Canada says that the average Nova Scotia household usually spends upwards of $100 a month on these other expenses.)
A man with no children, living on social assistance, seems to be in the worst predicament. If he bought all the foods that Health Canada says he needs to be healthy, he’d be in a deficit of $217.39 every month after all his other expenses. And that’s only if he’s getting a transportation allowance of about $70 a month to help him look for work or go to school. He simply can’t afford to eat properly.
The implication, Frank says, is that people living on low incomes will often compromise their food budget to cover other essential expenses. And that can put their health and quality of life at risk.
Liz Jackson is a member of the team which collects data for the food-costing project. She also volunteers with the Mulgrave Park Tenants Association, which operates a food bank and breakfast program for kids, so she sees the problem of rising food prices first-hand every day.
"There’s never enough money, especially for women with children," Jackson says. "They will do without so they can feed their little ones."
Jackson says her organization’s food bank gets a surprising number of requests from people who have jobs but can’t make ends meet because of higher costs for gasoline, furnace oil and household necessities.
"You’ll see people paying partial rent, or they’ll take money that’s meant for their light bill and just pay part of it. A phone is a luxury. A lot of people can’t afford a phone," she says.
Kim Burns, an outreach worker with the Kids Action and Great Beginnings program in Hants County, is another member of the food costing team. She said she did a presentation recently about food security at her son’s school, "and they got it."
"One little girl in the class said her mother makes $884 a month. She said, ‘She’s supposed to spend that much on groceries?’ " Burns says. "The kids were just blown away by how much things cost. And the teachers were blown away, too."
The food costing data for 2008 will be collected next week, June 14 to 20.
Frank predicts that with prices for basics such as bread, flour and rice all rising steadily, this year’s numbers will likely be higher.
STRETCH YOUR FOOD DOLLAR:
•PLAN AHEAD. Using store flyers as a guide to what’s on sale, make a list and plan meals for the coming week.
•PRICE IT. Keep a purse-sized price book and carry it with you. Write down things you buy often with their prices. If you see a sale sign, you’ll be able to check your master list to see whether you’re really getting a deal.
•COMPARE APPLES WITH APPLES. Shop by unit cost rather than comparing sticker prices. You’ll find the unit cost (i.e., price per 100 grams) in fine print on the shelf sticker.
•USE COUPONS. But use them wisely and only on items you need. A brand-name item might be 50 cents off, but still pricier than another brand.
•DO IT YOURSELF. Grate your own cheese, bake your own granola bars or make your own soup or chicken pot pies. If you’re a convenience-food junkie, start by making one or two meals from scratch each week.
•BUY IN BULK. Larger packages of items like flour are often cheaper than small ones but be sure to check unit costs. If you can’t afford the big bag or don’t think you’ll use it, split it and the cost with a friend.
•HANDLE WITH CARE. If you buy a mega-pack of ground beef on sale, re-package it into manageable portions and store in the freezer as soon as you get home from the store.
•USE WHAT YOU HAVE. Know what’s in your pantry and fridge, and use those things before buying more.
•EAT LESS MEAT. In the past year meat prices have gone up three per cent in Nova Scotia, according to StatsCan’s consumer price index for food. Most adults only need two to three servings (about 75 grams, or the size of a deck of cards) daily of meat or meat alternatives like eggs, beans and tofu. Round out meals with extra vegetables or rice.
•EAT MORE VEGETABLE PROTEINS. Beans, nuts and whole grains are good, inexpensive alternatives to meat, plus they’re low in saturated fat and high in fibre and nutrients.
•SNACK ON FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. They are not as expensive as other snack foods, and they’re better for you, too. According to StatsCan’s consumer price index for food in Nova Scotia, fresh vegetables cost 14.4 per cent less in April 2008 than April 2007. Fresh fruit was 3.4 per cent cheaper this year than last.
•DRINK WATER. If you don’t like the taste of municipal water, invest in a filter jug, but stay away from expensive bottled water.
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