Food affordability
Across our service area 1 in 6 households are food insecure. This means that these households have inadequate or unreliable access to food because of a lack of money. Food insecurity is a serious public health problem. It impacts physical and mental health1.
Some households are more likely to experience food insecurity than others. Food insecurity is more common in households that:
- rely on social assistance for example, Ontario Works or the Ontario Disability Support Program
- rent rather than own their home
- are female one-parent led.
Each year, Public Health Sudbury & Districts surveys the price of a variety of food items from 10 local grocery stores. This survey is called the Ontario Nutritious Food Basket (ONFB). The ONFB is used to see how affordable food is by comparing the cost of the food basket and housing to various individual and family income scenarios. The 2024 results indicate that some households must make the choice between eating and paying for other core living expenses.
| Household | Monthly income | Rent (% of income) | Cost of the ONFB (% of income) | What's left? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Family of 4, Ontario Works | $2,930 | $1,535 (52%) | $1,265 (43%) | $130 |
| Family of 4, full-time minimum wage earner | $4,529 | $1,535 (34%) | $1,265 (28%) | $1,729 |
| Family of 4, median income (after taxes) | $9,685 | $1,535 (16%) | $1,265 (13%) | $6,885 |
| One-parent household with 2 children over 6, Ontario Works | $2,692 | $1,361 (51%) | $944 (35%) | $387 |
| Pregnant person, Ontario Disability Support Program | $1,520 | $1,043 (69%) | $466 (31%) | $11 |
| One-person household, Ontario Works | $895 | $877 (98%) | $439 (49%) | -$421 |
| One-person household, Ontario Disability Support Program | $1,480 | $1,043 (70%) | $439 (30%) | -$2 |
| One-person household, Old Age Security/ Guaranteed Income Supplement | $2,083 | $1,043 (50%) | $314 (15%) | $726 |
What can be done?
The root cause of food insecurity is poverty. Charitable food programs such as food banks are our primary response to food insecurity. However, charitable food programs do not address poverty. We need a sustainable income solution to this problem2.
We can do this by:
- learning more about
- household food insecurity at https://proof.utoronto.ca/food-insecurity/
- structural determinants of health at https://nccdh.ca/learn/glossary/#collapse_2101
- supporting
- a basic income guarantee at https://www.obin.ca/
- an adequate increase in social assistance rates
- a minimum wage rate that aligns with the cost of living
- access to community tax clinics to ensure everyone receives all the benefits they deserve
For more information
- Food Insecurity Policy Research. An interdisciplinary research team investigating household food insecurity in Canada PROOF
- Ontario Dietitians in Public Health Position Statement and Recommendations on Responses to Food Insecurity
- Ontario Basic Income Network
- Contact us for more information on food, food insecurity, nutrition, and healthy eating
References
1 Li T, Fafard St-Germin AA, Tarasuk, V. (2023) Household food insecurity in Canada, 2022. Toronto: Research to identify policy options to reduce food insecurity (PROOF) PROOF – Identifying policy options to reduce household food insecurity (utoronto.ca)
2 Ontario Dietitians in Public Health. (2020). Position Statement and Recommendations on Responses to Food Insecurity. Retrieved from: https://www.odph.ca/odph-position-statement-on-responses-to-food-insecurity-1
This item was last modified on October 2, 2025