Sudbury & District Board of Health Urges Province to "Put Food in the Budget"

THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2009

The Sudbury & District Board of Health has thrown its support behind the province-wide “Put Food in the Budget” campaign that urges the provincial government to introduce a $100 Healthy Food Supplement for all adults on social assistance in its March 26 budget. The Board passed the motion at its Thursday, March 19 meeting.

“We all know that nutritious food is essential to good health, but the gap between what it costs to eat a healthy diet and the income people receive on social assistance is getting wider,” said Ron Dupuis, Board chair. “We hope that the provincial government takes a serious look at narrowing that gap by introducing a monthly $100 Healthy Food Supplement,” he added.

The Health Unit is partnering with the Social Planning Council of Sudbury to host a “Put Food in the Budget” event. People on social assistance are invited to visit the Health Unit’s Rainbow Centre site Friday, March 20 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., log on to www.povertywatchontario.ca, and send the government an email about what an extra $100 a month for food would mean for them and their family.

“We don’t want to live in a province where people don’t have enough to eat,” said Janet Gasparini, executive director of the Social Planning Council of Sudbury and chair of the Social Planning Network of Ontario. “The government must do what is right in providing stimulus to the economy and in protecting people during hard times. The Healthy Food Supplement will be spent in local communities and will help people live with dignity.”

The Health Unit’s 2008 Nutritious Food Basket report, released last November, found that in the Sudbury and Manitoulin districts it costs about $140.50 a week for a family of four – two adults and two children – to buy groceries that meet the basic nutritional requirements of each family member. A family of four on social assistance must spend roughly 34 per cent of its income on food.

According to the Ontario Hunger Report 2008, food bank use in Greater Sudbury has increased by 34.4 per cent from September 2007 to September 2008.

The Association of Local Public Health Agencies, of which the Sudbury & District Health Unit is a member, has been working with the 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction on the Ontario-wide “Put Food in the Budget” campaign. The campaign is central to a new strategy that focuses on encouraging local partnerships between public health and key community partners such as Social Planning Councils to advocate for the $100 monthly supplement.

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Sudbury & District Health Unit Media Contact:
Jamie Lamothe, Communications Officer
(705) 522-9200, ext. 358

Social Planning Council of Sudbury Media Contact:
Janet Gasparini, Executive Director
(705) 675-3894

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