Item - 2019.HL10.3

The Board of Health recommends that:

1.  City Council request the Government of Canada to:

a.  update the list of foods included in the National Nutritious Food Basket to reflect the recommendations from the 2019 Canada's Food Guide;

b.  develop a national food costing protocol to standardize the annual monitoring of food affordability by provincial/territorial and local governments; and

 
c.  mandate the annual measurement of food insecurity using the Household Food Security Survey Module.

The Board of Health:

1.  Restated its support for the passing of provincial Bill 60, An Act to amend the Ministry of Community and Social Services Act to establish the Social Assistance Research Commission.

Consistent monitoring of food affordability and food insecurity is necessary to assess the health of the population, to evaluate policy change, and to develop evidence-based recommendations for public health interventions. Based on this year's assessment, Toronto Public Health is reporting that the cost of nutritious food in Toronto has risen 7.6 percent between 2018 and 2019, the largest year-over-year increase in a decade. Ongoing surveillance will determine if there is evidence of a trend and what changes, if any, should be made to current programs and policies, particularly those targeting food insecurity.

Household food insecurity is defined as inadequate access to food due to financial constraints. Healthy eating can be particularly challenging for individuals and families experiencing food insecurity. Initiatives that target income insufficiency have been shown to reduce household food insecurity, suggesting that efforts should be made to ensure income support programs and policies accurately account for basic living expenses, including the cost of healthy eating.

When revising Canada's Food Guide, Health Canada made significant changes to its format that make it easier to follow. However, the changes create challenges related to calculating the cost of healthy eating. This report recommends adjustments the federal government can make to ensure important population health data continues to be collected and analyzed.