Comparing the cost of food.

Coming to Moose Factory I knew I would be spending significantly more on food than when I was in Nova Scotia, but it wasn't until I took part in a food costing activity this past week that I realized just how much more. As part of an online course, I was to cost a weeks worth of healthy food for a family of 3 (2 adults, 1 child), and compare with other students located across Canada/World. The values that came out were simply astounding.

While the food plan we used is far from a rigorous research study, the cost comparison is very interesting. For Moose Factory a healthy diet for a family of 3 according to our meal plan is $190.11, while in Ottawa and Montreal the cost came out to ~$104.25. Prices that are nearly double! The fact that this comes as a surprise for me after 5 weeks also shows how poor I am at paying attention to my expenses.

To give these values more context we can match it to social assistance and minimum wage:

 A) The family is receiving Ontario Works (OW) social assistance (for a couple and 1 child under the age of 17):

Annual income: $9,948.00

Monthly income: $829.00

Allows for distribution of a weekly income of: $190.00

It almost seems silly to implement the food values into this number, as clearly it is unaffordable. But if a family receiving social assistance in Ontario were to eat healthy according to our meal plan:

Weekly income: 190.00

Cost of healthy food basket in Montreal/Ottawa: $104.25

% of income spent on food: ~55%

Cost of healthy food basket in Moose Factory: $190.11

% of income spent on food: 100%

And if one parent is working a full-time (40 hours/week), minimum wage job ($10.25/hr):

Annual income: $19, 680.00

Monthly: $1,640.00

Weekly income: $379.00

% of income spent on food in Montreal/Ottawa: ~28%

% of income spent on food in Moose Factory: ~50%

It is pretty clear from these values that support for people is too low to allow them to eat a healthy diet. I think spending half of your pay check on food is pretty unrealistic, and food tends to be an “elastic” component of the household budget, in the sense that people can be more flexible with food than they can with housing and related expenses such as heat, power etc.

  The sad part is that Moosonee and Moose Factory actually have the lowest prices for the area,  people from up the coast drive down the winter ice road to shop in Moosonee. The cost of some items can be double in the communities up the coast. Though I haven't traveled to any of the coastal communities yet, I've heard horror stories of people placing locks on their fridge, because of the high price, food is sometimes stolen. It is hard to imagine this happening in Canada today, and even harder to accept! 

Working as a dietitian in these communities is especially challenging, while you try to offer suggestions for healthy low cost meal alternatives, you can tell that people have tried every way they can to save money on food. At that point it becomes more about assuring they take their multivitamin on a regular basis, not exactly ideal.

JK