Poorest cannot afford healthy food
Merritt Herald
Dec 22 2009
By: Marelle Reid

Eating a healthy, balanced diet is becoming more difficult each year for those on income assistance or earning minimum wage, according to the latest report from the Dietitians of Canada and the Community Nutritionists Council of B.C.

The annual Cost of Eating in B.C. 2009 was released this week, which shows many people are forgoing basic food items needed for a balanced diet….

The Dietitians of Canada say more than one in 10 British Columbians live in poverty, which is a factor strongly associated with poor health, chronic disease, and a poor diet, and that low-income people generally eat fewer servings of vegetables, fruit and milk products and are less likely to get the nutrients they need for good health….

In response to the Cost of Eating Report, Dietitians in B.C. are calling for the provincial government to develop a B.C. poverty reduction plan that has vision, targets and timelines and includes basing income assistance rates on actual costs of shelter, food and other necessities, increasing minimum wage, supporting social housing and food security initiatives, building a quality, affordable child care system, and measuring success by improvements in the health and social statistics of the most impoverished in the province.