Local Health Board Calls for Financial Help to Fight Food Insecurity

The Ability to put Enough Food on the Table is getting More Difficult for Some Chatham-Kent Residents.

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The Chatham-Kent Public Health Board Would Like to see Upper Levels of Government Provide Some More Financial Help So People Can Afford to Eat Healthier.

A Report on Food Incecurity and the 2024 Nutritious Food Basket, presented at Monday’s Health Board Meeting, shows at Least One in Five Households in the municipality “Struggle to Afford Nutritious Food.”

The Report by Public Health Nutritionist Sharmini Balakrishnan, Say, “Families and individuals living on low incumes in CK Have Little, If Any, Money Left Over to Cover Other Monthly Expensures After Paying for Food and Rent.”

Statistics Predated by Balakrishnan Show the cost of eating and Ret Take a Large Percentage of the MONTHLY Income for People Living On Social Assistance or the Ontario Disability Support Program. The statistics include:

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• A Family of Four on Ontario Works spends $ 1.147 on Groceries, Which is 75 per cent of their incoming back.
• The cost of food for a single parent with Two Children on Ontario Works is $ 853, Which is 76 per cent of their incoming back.
• A single pregnant person on odd spends $ 425 on food, which is 101 per hundred of their income, included.
• A single person on an ontario works spends $ 402 on food, which is 134 per hundred of that person’s income, included.

The Health Board supported a recommendation to write a letter to the Ontario Premier Supporting In Basic Income Guarantee for Residents over 17.

Chatham-Kent Council Recently supported a motion from Wallaceburg coun. Carmen mcgregor, flesh of the chatham-kent food policy council to call on the federal government to support in basic incoming guaranrae for canadians.

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“People must choose Between Paying for Housing or Paying for Food,” McGregor Said.

“In Canada, A Staggering 70 per cent of Households relying on social assistance are experienced food insecurity,” she said. “An addequate and secure incomes is a crucial solution to reduce these rats.”

Earlier in the Board Meeting, Chatham-Kent’s Acting Medical Officer of Health Dr. Shanker Nesathurai Discusd the Impacts of Poverty On Health.

“Would you be surprised if i said being poor is opposing to your health?” He Said.

Statistics Canada Data Suggests People With A Higher Income Have Longer Lives on Average With Lower Incidence of Diabetes and Heart Disease, He Said.

The Ontario Low Incue Coalition Reports People With Low Incumes Are Four Times More Likely To Report Poor Mental Health and 2.7 Times More Likely to Die of Suicide, Nesathurai Said.

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The Rate of Asthma is 40 per cent Higher with People of Low In Nonwest and They Have a Higher Risk of Lung Cancer.

“Our goal at the public health service is not for people to simply survive. Our goal is for community members to thrive, ”nesathurai said. “Addressing the Financial Aspects Associated With Poverty is well within our Grasp, but it’s not a panacea.”

He Said the Solutions to Address Poverty Require Making Difficult Policy Choices, Which Are for Elected Representatives to make.

“Addressing Poverty is one to raise that we can sweater to advancing the health of the community,” nesathurai said.

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