Our local health unit is supporting raising the minimum wage in Ontario. At a board of health meeting last week, the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit passed a resolution asking the provincial government to increase minimum wage and social assistance rates. The health unit says rates are currently too low to cover the costs of living, including the ability to purchase healthy food. In 2013, the cost for a family of four to eat healthy for one week in our district was about $193.38, an increase of 2.7% since 2012. Public Health Dietician Erin Reyce (race) says it’s ethically hard to promote Canada’s food guide when she knows that many people can’t afford to eat healthy. For more information about the cost of healthy eating in our district, you can read The Price of Eating Well 2013 on the Health Unit’s website. www.myhealthunit.ca.
