[article] Wild Gaps In Food Pricing Criticized By Heart And Stroke Foundation

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Wild Gaps In Food Pricing Criticized By Heart And Stroke Foundation
Monday February 9, 2009
CityNews.ca Staff

The cost of food is affecting more than just your wallet.

A study by the Heart and Stroke Foundation found that wild gaps in food pricing exist coast-to-coast - and it's not always where you think.

Researchers looked at 66 communities and found that Canadians are often paying more than double to almost six times the price for the same basic healthy food depending on where they live.


The cost of nutritious food has an impact beyond your bottom line - the federal agency wrote that, "price variations may help to explain why almost half of Canadian adults and 70 per cent of Canadian children don't consume the minimum recommended servings of vegetables and fruit from Canada's Food Guide and one third of Canadian children aren't consuming the recommended servings of milk products."

In October, 2008 the Heart and Stroke Foundation recruited volunteer shoppers in 66 communities nationwide to purchase a list of food based on Health Canada's National Nutritious Food Basket.

Even in Ontario, where orchards are common, the price for six apples ranged from 90 cents in Peterborough to $5.49 in Dryden. Click here for more examples.

"Many provincial governments regulate the price of alcohol across provinces, but healthy food is subject to significant price variations from one community to the next," outlined Stephen Samis, Director of Health Policy, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada in a press release.

"You have to wonder why we control the price of alcohol but allow such price inconsistencies for healthy food - and not just in remote regions of the country - but even between larger metropolitan areas."

Read the full report here.

Heart and Stroke Foundation Recommendations

The Foundation believes that governments can take action to improve Canadians' access to healthy and nutritious foods by:

• monitoring and periodically reporting on the price of core staples in the national nutritious food basket
• researching why there is so much inconsistency in the price of healthy foods within and across provinces
• expanding and enhancing the federal Food Mail program, a combined program of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), Canada Post and Health Canada, which provides nutritious perishable food and other essential items to isolated northern communities at reduced postal rates, to ensure affordable pricing of nutritious foods across all regions of Canada (especially remote and northern locations)

How does your community stack up?

Some examples:

Product

Apples (6 medium)

Potatoes (2.7 kg)

National Avg.

$3.50

$4.25

Communities with the highest prices

1. Rankin Inlet, NU ($7.64)
2. Dryden, ON ($5.49)
3. Grande Prairie, AB ($5.24)
4. Thompson, MB ($5.16)
5. Calgary, AB ($5.02)
   AVG TOP 5 = $5.71

1. Rankin Inlet, NU ($8.19)
2. Yellowknife, NT & Melfort, SK ($6.95)
3. Swift Current, SK & Dryden, ON ($5.99)
4. Corner Brook, NL, Woodstock, Peterborough, Vaughan & Chatham, ON ($4.99)
5. Invermere, BC & Brandon, MB ($4.98)
   AVG TOP 5 = $6.22

Communities with the lowest prices

1. Peterborough, ON ($0.90)
2. Toronto, ON ($1.00)
3. Edmonton, AB ($1.71)
4. Corner Brook, NL ($1.91)
5. Brandon, MB ($2.02)
   AVG LOW 5 = $1.51

1. Toronto, ON ($1.50)
2. Whitehorse, YT ($2.15)
3. Amherst, NS & Saint John, NB ($2.99)
4. London, ON ($3.29)
5. Kitchener, ON, Jonquiere, QC, Montreal, QC; The Pas, MB, Nanaimo \ & Vancouver, BC ($3.49)
   AVG LOW 5 = $2.68

Product

Whole Wheat Pasta (900 g)

Brown Rice (1 kg)

National Avg.

$5.48

$4.99

Communities with the highest prices

1. Dawson, YT ($11.37)
2. Kelowna, BC ($8.38)
3. Fort McMurray, AB, Winnipeg, MB, Brooks, AB, Thompson, MB, & Swift Current, SK ($8.14)
4. Prince Albert & Regina, SK ($7.90)
5. The Pas, MB ($7.66)
   AVG HIGH 5= $8.69

1. Rankin Inlet, NU ($11.99)
2. Fort McMurray, AB ($8.09)
3. Calgary, AB ($7.99)
4. Winnipeg, MB ($7.76)
5. Dryden, ON ($7.64)
   AVG HIGH 5 = $8.69

Communities with the lowest prices

1. Barrie, ON ($2.00)
2. North Bay, ON ($2.19)
3. Windsor, ON & Saint John, NB ($2.29)
4. Peterborough, ON ($2.69)
5. Jonquiere, QC ($3.18)
   AVG LOW 5 = $2.47

1. Vaughan & Toronto, ON ($2.19)
2. Digby, NS & Gander, NL ($2.29)
3. Peterborough, Kitchener & Chatham, ON ($2.43)
4. North Bay, ON ($2.49)
5. Kingston, ON ($2.50)
   AVG LOW 5 = $2.38