“If you’re spending more than that, then that’s where things start to become more unaffordable for your other basic needs,” she says.

For a family of four relying on Ontario Works payments, money gets tighter, with an average of 46 per cent of income going toward rent and 35 per cent toward food. That leaves just 19 per cent, or about $470, for all other expenses, such as electricity, heating, schooling or transportation costs.

“That leaves very little of a buffer for all the other expenses, which would probably put them at risk of cutting back on food to afford other expenses,” Needham says.

And when it comes to a single person relying on Ontario Works, the numbers don’t add up, with 93 per cent going toward rent and 38 per cent toward food, or 131 per cent of their income needed to cover the basics for food and shelter.

“Really what that tells us is they’d need an extra 31 per cent of their income just to afford those two expenses, let alone any other critical expense,” Needham says.

“Really that’s telling us it is unaffordable for someone in that scenario to be able to afford healthy food.”

According to WDGPH, there were 2,068 monthly Ontario Works cases in Wellington County in 2017.

WDGPH also found that, between 2012 and 2014, families in the agency’s service area were experiencing food insecurity at higher rates than the rest of the province, with 14 per cent of households seeing some level of food insecurity. Across the province, that number is 12 per cent.

Needham says there are many reasons to explain why Guelph, Wellington and Dufferin are seeing higher food insecurity rates, including higher housing costs and a growing number of people in the area having to rely on Ontario Works payments.

“There are lots of symptoms as to why our rates are higher, but again it’s hard to know because for each household, there are different issues,” she says.

As for what impacts food insecurity can have, Needham says it depends on what level of food insecurity that individual or family is facing. This ranges from marginal food insecurity, where there are worries around running out of food or limiting food selections due to lack of money, to moderate food security, where the quality and/quantity of food is lowered in order to afford it, to severe food insecurity, where people will miss meals and reduce food intake.

“Individuals who are food insecure are more likely to have chronic diseases, like hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, things like that,” Needham says.

“There can be a risk for low-nutrient intake, so you’d be at risk for different nutrient deficiencies.”

Needham says the health concerns surrounding food insecurity extend outside physical health.

“Adults experiencing food insecurity can experience things like social exclusion, distress, depression, suicide ideation,” she says.

“When you think how big a role food plays in our social lives, and you’re always in that uncertainty whether you might run out of food or you’re already starting to compromise the quality, that takes a toll on your social health.”

Pathway out of poverty

Needham says the reason many families and individuals are having to decide between healthy food and other expenses is a simple allocation of priorities.

“Housing is your fixed cost, we all need shelter and it’s the first thing that gets paid out of any money that we have every month,” she says, referring to other expenses such as energy costs and transportation.

“Often, families will choose to spend on critical expenses, and one area they’ll cut back on is healthy food.”

And those impossible choices are leading to big societal expenses, such as increased health care costs. The WDGPH report adds that the usual tactic to fighting food insecurity isn’t doing enough.

“Charitable food programs have been the traditional response to this issue, but these support services do not address the root issue of inadequate income to afford food.”

Dominica McPherson, the interim co-ordinator of the Guelph and Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination, says the best response to food insecurity is a multipronged approach, all tackling issues around income.

In 2016, the task force released a position statement on what can be done to address food insecurity through income-based responses, such as raising Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program rates — “They are far too low in order for individuals to meet their basic needs, like accessing foods,” McPherson says — and paying workers more.

The living wage for Guelph and Wellington, according to the task force, is $16.90 per hour.

“We know that that’s higher than the current minimum wage is at, at $14 an hour. In order for people to have that greater access to income and have their basic needs, those wages need to go up,” she says.

McPherson says businesses need to step up and work to pay their employees more, seeing it as an investment for not only them, but also the community at large.

“What we’ve heard from them is that paying their workers more results in cost savings,” McPherson says, pointing to employers that have bumped their pay rates up to that living wage number.

“They’re seeing greater retention of their employees, decreased turnover costs, and happier, healthier and more productive workers. Not only have they communicated that this is good for business, it’s the right thing to do.”

McPherson adds that increased wages would be a boon for the economy as well, as “low-wage workers are most likely to spend their increase in wages in the local economy.”

While higher wages are one step, they are not a total problem solver, McPherson says, adding that there needs to be pathways for people to succeed in those positions.

“We talk a lot about our low unemployment rate, which is wonderful if people have access to a job and are able to work, but what we don’t talk about as often is the quality of work and whether or not those jobs provide a pathway out of poverty,” she says.

“For so many workers, workers that are working at a minimal wage, those jobs are not providing that pathway.”

Locally, McPherson says there needs to be a bigger push for affordable housing.

“For so many people, the largest single cost for them is housing. As a result of that, we need more affordable options,” she says.

“From a food insecurity lens, we know that so often, households experiencing food insecurity experience negative effects on their health, and that’s in terms of physical health and mental health.”

In its report, WDGPH agrees that addressing issues around income will be the path forward for many families out of food insecurity.

“Local, provincial and federal governments should continue to address food insecurity with a focus on income-based solutions rather than on food-based solutions,” the report concludes.

“This will require policy changes to support income adequacy and address the factors that limit food purchasing.”