The Rising Cost of Food and its Impact: BC Centres of Disease Control

A recent report from the BC Centre for Disease Control (prepared by the Provincial Health Services Authority) gives some sobering statistics on the effects of food insecurity and the cost of food on Vancouver Island. The Saanich Green Market offers nutritious, spray free and local produce at wholesale prices to assist with food security in our local communities.

The following is a condensed version of the BCCDC report.

The average monthly cost of a nutritious food basket for a family of four (2 adults 2 children) in British Columbia is $1,263. A nutritious food basket consists of vegetables and fruit, (fresh, frozen and canned) protein sources (black beans, sunflower seeds, peanut butter, meats, cheeses), grains (whole wheat bread, pasta, brown rice) and unsaturated fats (vegetable oils). Household food insecurity is inversely associated with adult dietary quality, particularly for intake of vegetables, fruits and dairy products.

As of May/June 2022 the Vancouver Island Health region has the most expensive monthly food costs in British Columbia. The Island Health region food costs are $1,366 per month (38 stores sampled). The lowest costs are in the Fraser Health region at $1,193. (88 stores sampled).

In 2021, 14.9% of households in BC, or 732,000 people, experienced household food insecurity, with 4.4%, 7.3%, and 3.2% experiencing marginal, moderate and severe household food insecurity respectively. While households whose main source of income is from social assistance have the highest rate of food insecurity, the majority who experience household food insecurity work in paid employment and rely on income from wages, salaries or self-employment. Approximately 145,000, or 1 in 6, children in BC lived in a food insecure household in 2021.

In the context of record inflation, increasing costs of living, climate change impacts on the food system and ongoing recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an urgent need for equity-based solutions to food insecurity in BC.