Since I'm not sure this actually posted, I'm posting it as a comment.
Healthy food prices vary widely across Canada By Deepa Liegel http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090209/healthy_foods_090209/20090209/?hub=TorontoNewHome
Some Canadians are paying double the average price for healthy foods, depending on where they live, according to a report from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. The report: "Heart and Stroke Foundation's Annual Report on Canadians' Health," found: • A large variety of costs for fruits and vegetables across the country. For example, six apples cost $0.90 in Peterborough, Ontario, but $7.64 in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. • Whole-wheat pasta in Dawson City, Yukon, can cost as much as $11.37 while pasta in Barrie, Ontario costs $2. • Milk, cheese and meat costs twice in the communities with the highest prices than in the communities with the lowest prices. (The average low price was between $4 and $6 and the highest price was from $8 to $14).
High costs and low availability in healthy food can cause Canadians a range of health problems, says Heart and Stroke Foundation CEO Sally Brown. "Those risk factors will decrease dramatically if you eat a healthy diet," Brown told CTV Ottawa on Monday. "Because healthy foods do a number of things: you lose weight, it stabilizes your blood pressure, it lowers your cholesterol and it manages your blood sugar. So, we need people to eat healthier, and if we're going to price food in certain communities out of reach, Canadians aren't going to." According to Brown, 25 percent of cases of heart disease, stroke and other health issues could be prevented if Canadians ate a balanced, healthy diet of fruits, vegetables, grains, meats and dairy. For the study, Foundation staff recruited volunteer shoppers across Canada who were required to purchase a list of foods based on Health Canada's National Nutritious Food Basket to feed a family of four for one week. They shopped the national or regional grocery chain in their community and were given a food brands to choose from. Not all of the volunteers could find a wide variation of healthy foods. For instance, volunteers found that dried beans and frozen spinach were unavailable in one out of three grocery stores, one in five stores did not have un-breaded frozen fish, while only 10 percent of stores carried fresh chicken legs. However, pop, chips and cookies were generally the same price and more widely available. Not surprisingly, a survey of more than 1,400 Canadians contained in the report found that 42 per cent occasionally go without a particular type of food because of the cost. The survey also found that: • 42 percent of the 1,400 Canadians surveyed forgo a certain type of food because of cost • One in five Canadians go without fruit and vegetables and one quarter of Canadians go without meat and poultry because of cost “It is unclear why food prices and availability vary so widely across the country,” Brown says. "We don't know why it happens. That's why the Heart and Stroke Foundation is saying we really need governments, the food industry and others to research why these prices are so variable." According to the survey's results, 86 percent of Canadians believe the government should regulate the price of healthy foods to ensure that they are equally affordable across the country. "If governments and provinces can regulate the cost of alcohol," the Foundation's Dr. Beth Abramson told CTV Newsnet, "surely we should be able to find some way to make sure Canadians have accessibility to healthy food choices."
This is important because Canada is so close to us geographically and something that affects Canada could well affect us. It's also important to know about the lack of diversity in big things like healthy food.
1 comment:
Since I'm not sure this actually posted, I'm posting it as a comment.
Healthy food prices vary widely across Canada
By Deepa Liegel
http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090209/healthy_foods_090209/20090209/?hub=TorontoNewHome
Some Canadians are paying double the average price for healthy foods, depending on where they live, according to a report from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.
The report: "Heart and Stroke Foundation's Annual Report on Canadians' Health," found:
• A large variety of costs for fruits and vegetables across the country. For example, six apples cost $0.90 in Peterborough, Ontario, but $7.64 in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut.
• Whole-wheat pasta in Dawson City, Yukon, can cost as much as $11.37 while pasta in Barrie, Ontario costs $2.
• Milk, cheese and meat costs twice in the communities with the highest prices than in the communities with the lowest prices. (The average low price was between $4 and $6 and the highest price was from $8 to $14).
High costs and low availability in healthy food can cause Canadians a range of health problems, says Heart and Stroke Foundation CEO Sally Brown.
"Those risk factors will decrease dramatically if you eat a healthy diet," Brown told CTV Ottawa on Monday. "Because healthy foods do a number of things: you lose weight, it stabilizes your blood pressure, it lowers your cholesterol and it manages your blood sugar. So, we need people to eat healthier, and if we're going to price food in certain communities out of reach, Canadians aren't going to."
According to Brown, 25 percent of cases of heart disease, stroke and other health issues could be prevented if Canadians ate a balanced, healthy diet of fruits, vegetables, grains, meats and dairy.
For the study, Foundation staff recruited volunteer shoppers across Canada who were required to purchase a list of foods based on Health Canada's National Nutritious Food Basket to feed a family of four for one week. They shopped the national or regional grocery chain in their community and were given a food brands to choose from.
Not all of the volunteers could find a wide variation of healthy foods.
For instance, volunteers found that dried beans and frozen spinach were unavailable in one out of three grocery stores, one in five stores did not have un-breaded frozen fish, while only 10 percent of stores carried fresh chicken legs.
However, pop, chips and cookies were generally the same price and more widely available.
Not surprisingly, a survey of more than 1,400 Canadians contained in the report found that 42 per cent occasionally go without a particular type of food because of the cost.
The survey also found that:
• 42 percent of the 1,400 Canadians surveyed forgo a certain type of food because of cost
• One in five Canadians go without fruit and vegetables and one quarter of Canadians go without meat and poultry because of cost
“It is unclear why food prices and availability vary so widely across the country,” Brown says. "We don't know why it happens. That's why the Heart and Stroke Foundation is saying we really need governments, the food industry and others to research why these prices are so variable."
According to the survey's results, 86 percent of Canadians believe the government should regulate the price of healthy foods to ensure that they are equally affordable across the country.
"If governments and provinces can regulate the cost of alcohol," the Foundation's Dr. Beth Abramson told CTV Newsnet, "surely we should be able to find some way to make sure Canadians have accessibility to healthy food choices."
This is important because Canada is so close to us geographically and something that affects Canada could well affect us. It's also important to know about the lack of diversity in big things like healthy food.
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