The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) has released its annual Nutritious Food Basket survey.
It will cost an individual within SMDHU’s medical region $445.95 per month to afford healthy food. That number balloons to $1,225.74 for a family of two adults and two kids.
Those numbers were at $419 and $1,159.92, respectively, last year.
Speaking with the MyMuskokaNow.com newsroom last week, Dr. Lisa Simon, associate medical officer of health, said, along with inflation, an issue only furthering the issue of food insecurity is inadequate funding from the various social assistance programs.
She explained if someone in Muskoka received $868 from Ontario Works, they would need to use 162 percent of their income to pay for a bachelor apartment and basic nutritious food.
Vanessa Hurley, public health nutritionist and registered dietitian, says handling the issue requires a lot of support, pointing out one in five households in Simcoe Muskoka are dealing with some level of food insecurity.
“Tackling household food insecurity is complex and requires effective income-based solutions,” she says. “Policies and programs to help people afford basic nutritious food and the cost of living are needed from all levels of government, including increased social assistance rates indexed to inflation, jobs with livable wages and benefits, a basic income and more affordable housing options in our communities.”