NOTE: Some context for you non-Torontonians -- Thornhill is a wealthy north Toronto suburb, Scarborough is a sort of middle-class eastern Toronto neighborhood and Jane-Finch is a poor, largely new immigrant neighborhood in the northern part of the city.

http://www.thestar.com/article/584991
Feb 10, 2009 04:30 AM
MEGAN OGILVIE
HEALTH REPORTER

Filling your shopping cart with fresh fruits, green veggies and whole grains in Barrie will net you bigger savings than an identical trip through the grocery store in Toronto, St. Catharines or Hamilton.

A new report found "startling discrepancies" in the cost of basic healthy food at grocery stores across Canada – and across the Greater Toronto Area – a sign that healthy eating is out of reach for many Canadians.

The cost of 1 per cent milk varied widely across Toronto, with a 4-litre bag ringing in at $4.29 in Thornhill, $3.97 in Scarborough and $5.99 in the Jane-Finch neighbourhood.

A kilogram of lean ground beef cost $5.49 in Thornhill, $6.64 in Scarborough and $8.91 in the Jane-Finch neighbourhood.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation, which conducted the first-ever cross-country shop for its annual report on Canadians' health, is calling on governments to look more closely at nationwide food costs. Ensuring nutritious foods are affordable is critical, the foundation says, especially as the economy continues to slacken and pocketbooks get tighter.

"Access to basic healthy food should be a right, not a privilege," said Stephen Samis, director of health policy at the Heart and Stroke Foundation. "Yet many Canadians have trouble affording, or even finding, healthy food where they shop."

Although there were expected discrepancies in price between urban areas and remote communities, due to distance and fuel costs, the foundation also noted inconsistencies across regions and across cities.

Here in the GTA, the report found the grocery bill from the lower-income Jane-Finch neighbourhood was seven per cent higher than the bill from the wealthier suburb of Thornhill, and 14 per cent higher than the bill from Scarborough, said Marco Di Buono, director of research for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario.

The report also found the prices of unhealthy snacks, such as pop, chips and cookies, were relatively stable across the country.

A healthy diet is a key factor in preventing heart disease – the No. 1 killer of men and women in Canada.

Studies have shown that eating a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains can reduce the risk of heart disease by 30 per cent, Di Buono said.

Healthy eating is a challenge for every Canadian given busy schedules and our fast-food culture, but it is especially difficult for those on a budget, said Sosan Hua, a registered dietitian whose clients range from Toronto's wealthiest citizens to people in local food banks, churches and community centres.

"For us, it's easy to recommend healthy eating," she said. "But sometimes it's not practical, especially when I'm asking people to eat healthy who have a very low budget for food.

"If a pack of hot dogs is 99 cents versus a couple of apples for $2 or $3, how do you justify that when you have to feed a family of six?"

Hua said she finds creative ways for people to fit healthy foods into their budget, often by "getting back to basics" and incorporating canned beans and canned tomato sauce into meals and mixing fresh veggies with the less-expensive frozen variety.

As the economy declined this winter, Hua said some of her clients had to switch from 100 per cent juice to sugar-filled fruit punch and swap fresh meat for hot dogs and sausages.

Hua has long known there are discrepancies in food prices across the city, but said she didn't know the severity of the problem until the report was released.

"This should be a bang on the head to governments when they realize this inequality is happening, and even widespread, in the GTA."

The Ministry of Health Promotion is currently reviewing the report, said spokesperson Lise Jolicoeur.

To collect data for the report, the foundation recruited volunteer shoppers in 66 communities. The shoppers were asked to purchase a list of foods, based on Health Canada's National Nutritious Food Basket, that would feed a family of four for one week.

Shoppers were asked to choose a national or regional grocery chain in their community and buy specific national brands as chosen by the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Many provincial governments legislate the price of alcohol, but there are no regulations to ensure access to healthy food, said Dr. Beth Abramson, a cardiologist and spokesperson for the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

"At a time when obesity rates are rising, and one in three Canadians is dying from heart disease, we have to ask the question why are we able to control the price of alcohol and allow such price variations for basic healthy food," she said.

The foundation is also calling on governments to monitor the price of healthy foods across the country and set measurable targets to reduce poverty rates.

I wonder how pervasive this sort of problem is internationally?

I think it's the same here. But, I don't understand why the healthier foods were more expensive in the less-affluent neighborhoods.