Another increase in what it costs to put food on the table for a family of four in Windsor-Essex.
According to the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, the weekly cost of groceries for a family of four in 2024 is $274.37, or $1,188.01 per month.
The figure is a 0.7 percent increase over 2023, but health officials note there were also rate increases for housing but not in income as they examine factors around household food insecurity, which is when a person is not able to access food regularly and consistently due to financial constraints.
When it comes to overall food affordability, the health unit finds that for people living on either minimum wage, Ontario Works, or the Ontario Disability Support Program, there is little money left over after paying rent and other necessities such as heat and hydro, transportation, car maintenance and gas, childcare, phone and internet, and other expenses.
Public health nutritionist Karen Bellemore says every year they monitor food affordability in the community and that this is a continuation of a trend.
"The situation is just getting worse as we go on throughout the years. I have been in this portfolio for ten years, and every year these numbers become larger, and that gap of what is left over at the end of the month is becoming smaller and in the negative,' she says.
Bellemore says they really don't look at the quality of the diet right now when it's impossible for some to even get food on the table.
"That's the biggest concern. We have families, 1 in 5, 1 in 4 households, that are unable to get any food on the table,' she says. "Really, the conversation is, how can we support people to get nourishment and not be as concerned right now as to what that nourishment is?"
Bellemore adds they are really looking at what they can do to support the community to ensure there is adequate income for individuals to make choices to nourish themselves in the best way they can.
Approximately 20.7% of households in Windsor and Essex County faced food insecurity in 2021-2023, or 1 in 5 local households who worry about having enough money for food.
The 61 food items costed as part of the calculation are based on the 2019 National Nutritious Food Basket and reflect Canada’s Food Guide. Data does not include: non-food items, foods that may be needed to meet cultural or religious needs, or foods to manage disease conditions, allergies, or intolerances.