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March 2004
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The Cost of Food Security by Jodi Martin Although we hardly needed MORE convincing reasons to lobby the new Ontario Government to raise the minimum wage in this province, local and national news this month highlighted two such reasons. First, in November, the Thunder Bay District Health Unit released its annual “Cost of Eating Report”. The District Health Unit conducts this cost survey every year in local grocery stores. The purpose is to calculate the cost of eating well in the city of Thunder Bay. The resulting costs are based on a healthy diet which would include a variety of foods reflecting Canada’s Guide to Healthy Eating. The costs in the following table are based on average prices from six stores in June 2003. So what do these numbers mean? For the purpose of understanding what these figures mean to area families, take as an example a single mother with two children (aged 10 and 13 years) - the cost of healthy eating for this family would be $95.87 per week. Consider that a person earning $9/hr for an average work week (35 hours - if they are lucky enough to have guaranteed full time hours) earns $315/week before taxes. At minimum wage ($239.75/week) it would be virtually impossible to spend what is deemed necessary to purchase healthy food. Even a family with two income earners (and children of the same ages) would have difficulty meeting the healthy food costs as established by the District Health Unit survey. A two income household with both wage earners earning minimum wage (and working full time hours) would earn $479.50 per week. The cost of eating well for this family would be $135.87! This is over 25% of their gross income. This brings me to the second compelling reason for an examination of the minimum wage regulations in Ontario. This month Campaign 2000 also released its annual report card claiming that over one million Canadian children live in poverty. According to CTV, Laurel Rothman (national coordinator of Campaign 2000) explained that “some of the blame for child poverty must be borne by a labour market that isn’t providing parents with the jobs and salaries they need to raise children.” According to the report, one in four Canadian workers earns less than $10/hr. Furthermore, it is women who are particularly vulnerable to the problem of low paying employment and thus: “the labour market does not currently provide a pathway out of poverty for most lone mothers and children” What can you do? Other than lobbying your local Member of Provincial Parliament to pressure the Ontario government to consider the cost of healthy living when examining our minimum wage, you can also become involved by donating time or resources to the various food providing organizations in Thunder Bay, or to the Food Action Network. The Food Action Network is “a coalition of groups and individuals that was established in 1996 with an aim at achieving food security in Thunder Bay. Food security means everyone has access to enough safe, healthy, and affordable food.” The Network promotes a variety of programs such as: community kitchens, community gardens, gleaning and plant-a-row grow-a-row in the region to assist people on low incomes with access to safe and healthy foods. For more information, to become a volunteer, or to make a donation to Food Action programs, call the Community Nutrition Promoter at 625-8816. For information on emergency food providers in communities outside of Thunder Bay but serviced by the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, please call Catherine Schwartz Mendes toll free at 1 888 294 6630. NOTE:At time of press the Ontario government has raised the minimum wage to $7.15/hour. Minimum wage will rise annually reaching $8/hour by Feruary 2007. Clearly a step in the right direction, this new rate falls dramatically short of bringing mminimum wage earners above the poverty line. |