Food prices have soared to their highest rates in almost half a century — and that could lead to some serious impacts on Canadians' health. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)

Soaring food prices could have major impact on Canadians' health

Cost of food rising at highest rate in 41 years, putting millions of Canadians at risk

Adam Miller

• Rising food prices are putting a growing number of Canadians under financial strain. 
   
• But there could also be some major impacts on our health — as more Canadians opt for unhealthy food, or skip meals altogether due to rising costs. 
   
• Research shows food insecurity is tied to far worse health outcomes, and that could lead to added pressure on our already overburdened healthcare system.

The price of fresh fruit went up by 12.9 per cent, fresh vegetables by 11.8 per cent, baked goods by 14.8 per cent and meat by 7.6 per cent — meaning the healthy diet recommended in Canada's Food Guide may already be out of reach for many Canadians. 

"I'm a type two diabetic and I also have hypertension as well, and so I'm supposed to eat a very healthy high fibre diet — well, that's not happening," said Tracy Ross, who lives on a fixed income on a disability pension in Spruce Grove, Alta. and struggles to afford groceries.

"The repercussions of all of this down the line, I don't even want to think about it. People's health issues are going to get worse, people are going to be dying. Our hospitals are already overworked and understaffed."

Ross said she has also been finding it harder to pay her monthly utility bills due to the rapid rise in food prices, whereas previously she was able to keep up month-to-month. 

"So what, are you going to go cold or are you going to go hungry?" she told CBC News. "I need a new winter jacket — it ain't gonna happen this year. It's just crazy."

Even the price of essentials like vegetable oil have reached new heights, with a three-litre bottle rising more than 40 per cent between August 2021 and August 2022 in Canada, topping the list of most expensive food items this year.

The number of Canadians using food banks across the country also reached record highs this year, with nearly 1.5 million visits in March, up 15 per cent over the same time last year and 35 per cent more than in March 2019 prior to the pandemic. 

More than 30 per cent of Canadians said they were eating less healthy food due to rising costs, while almost 20 per cent said they skipped meals to save money in a new national survey from the Canadian Hub for Applied and Social Research at the University of Saskatchewan.

And the cost of feeding healthy meals to a family of four in Ottawa rose more than 20 per cent during the pandemic to more than $1,000 a month, up from just over $900 in 2019, according to a new survey from Ottawa Public Health. 

And there appears to be no relief in sight at the checkout line, with dairy prices expected to rise again in the new year as Canada's top three grocers all posted higher profits this year compared with their average performances over the last five years.

"We're talking about millions of people being unable to access food in one of the richest countries," said Dr. Andrew Boozary, executive director of health and social policy for Toronto's University Health Network. 

"There is no way that we can shirk what we are talking about here, this is really about accepting far worse health outcomes for millions of Canadians."
 

More than 30 per cent of Canadians said they were eating less healthy food due to rising costs, while almost 20 per cent said they skipped meals to save money in a new national survey. (George Frey/Bloomberg)

'Accepting far worse health outcomes for millions'

A growing body of research has found that food insecurity is tied to far worse health outcomes for adults and children, and that could lead to more pressure on the already overburdened healthcare system down the road. 

"In adults, we're talking about type two diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, poor bone health – all the reasons why a healthy diet is important," said Valerie Tarasuk, a professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto's Temerty Faculty of Medicine. 

"People who are food insecure are way more likely to turn up in an emergency department, they're more likely to be hospitalized for a variety of conditions, and once hospitalized, they're more likely to stay longer, and they're more likely to be readmitted." 

Canadians living in food insecure homes are also more vulnerable to infectious diseases, poor oral health, injuries and chronic conditions like depression, anxiety, heart disease, hypertension, arthritis and chronic pain, according to U of T's PROOF research program.

Statistics Canada reported Friday that more than one in three Canadians over 15 live in households finding it difficult to meet financial needs including transportation, housing, food, clothing and other necessary expenses — up from just one in five in October 2020.

"Living in poverty puts you at higher risk of developing almost every chronic health condition, acute health condition, higher risks of even being in accidents, experiencing trauma," said Dr. Gary Bloch, a family physician at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto.

"It also puts you at higher risk of worse outcomes from all of those conditions."

A 2018 Ontario study published in the journal PLOS One found that adults who live in food insecure homes had more than twice the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes compared to those with food security, which Tarasuk said may be made worse by the rising cost of food.

"They have higher rates of chronic conditions than food secure Canadians and that includes both mental health and physical health conditions," said Tarasuk. "So now, you turn up the heat on them with these increased prices — they're less able to manage." 

The latest data from Statistic Canada's Canadian Income Survey found 5.8 million Canadians, including 1.4 million children, lived in food insecure households in 10 provinces in 2021. 

"We're seeing it play out in the healthcare system with far worse health outcomes for people who are having to try to make these impossible choices between putting food on their table, paying rent or renewing their medication," said Boozary. 

"These are the impossible choices now that are more impossible than ever for families and people across the country." 
 

A volunteer places products on shelves at the Kanata Food Cupboard in Ottawa on Oct. 7. The number of Canadians using food banks across the country reached record highs this year. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

No relief in sight

With no signs of food inflation slowing down anytime soon, experts are calling for more to be done to support Canadians who may be finding themselves struggling to afford groceries — or looking for ways to stretch their budget and avoid eating unhealthy food. 

Abby Langer, a registered dietitian and nutrition expert in Toronto, said things like grocery store price matching, using coupons and opting for less expensive food options that can still provide nutritious meals including beans, lentils, tofu and eggs. 

"You don't have to buy a ton of animal protein or think that you have to buy fish or whatnot to get that protein. Like you could have an omelet for dinner and it's an inexpensive protein rich meal," she said, adding that canned and frozen foods can also be stored much longer. 

"I want people to know you don't need to buy organic food at all. It's such a marketing ploy, you're not going to live longer if you eat organic food and it's so much more expensive. So please don't feel pressure to buy that kind of food — buy what you can afford."

Food banks and other charitable food assistance are also touted as solutions to the problem of food insecurity, and more Canadians are turning to them than ever before, but Boozary said they merely act as a band-aid to a much larger problem.

"Food banks are not the solution to food insecurity, the same way that shelters are not the policy solution to homelessness," he said, adding policy makers need to ensure that social assistance programs rise on par with inflation and that living wages are provided. 

"Everyone out there who's having to try to navigate these impossible choices knows that the root cause here is poverty, and financial constraints. Not necessarily just food and food choices." 

Tarasuk said there is no evidence to suggest charitable food assistance groups like Food Banks Canada can solve the problem of food insecurity, and that policy interventions upstream such as universal basic incomes are other ways to get at the root of the problem.

"I hope that in this time, everybody is conscious of these rising prices," she said. "I think people that haven't really thought much about it now are wondering how people are affording these costs." 

For Ross in Alberta, the challenge of rising food costs isn't going away anytime soon. 

"I have two kids and they have spouses and I have a grandchild — how am I even going to afford to get some stuff for Christmas? It's just awful," she said. 

"And how am I even going to cook Christmas dinner?" 

Josephine Moschitto's two children, Victor, left, and Laura, thought they had a few years left with their beloved mother. The 89-year-old passed away from COVID-19 on Oct. 9, making her one of more than 200 Canadians to die of the disease that week. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)

Hundreds of Canadians are still dying of COVID-19 every week. Who are they?

Deaths in Canada remain stubbornly high, with elderly often bearing the brunt in busy hospitals

Even in her 80s, Josephine Moschitto still cheered on her beloved Toronto Blue Jays, went grocery shopping near her retirement home, and had recently discovered the joys of playing Wordle on her iPad.

The Mississauga, Ont., resident lost her husband of six decades in early 2021, and had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. But she was healthy, mobile and still enjoyed time with family, including a lunch with her loved ones in September. 

"And she looked perfectly fine," her son Victor recalled. "We were all talking, laughing ... then a week later, circumstances changed."

That's when Josephine started showing symptoms of COVID-19. And, despite her having received four vaccine doses, the virus took a serious toll.

The 89-year-old went to a local hospital in late September, and spent a few days in a bed in the emergency department, waiting for a room. At first her illness seemed mild — with none of the telltale breathing problems that used to strike so many COVID patients — but she slowly began to decline.

Victor and his sister Laura visited their mother as much as possible, often playing her favourite oldies, until the hospital stopped allowing visitors during a COVID-19 outbreak. 

"Then she just took a turn for the worse," Laura said.

In her last few days at the hospital, Josephine was put on oxygen and developed pneumonia. She didn't want to be intubated, so she was never transferred into intensive care. 

She died on Oct. 9.

"I always thought to myself that my mom had a few good years left in her," Victor said.

"You all of a sudden realize that the disease that has captured so many lives is actually affecting your family's life."

People such as Josephine — who are elderly, or medically frail for other reasons — are now the classic victims of COVID-19.

And hundreds of Canada's most vulnerable are still dying, every single week, with countrywide deaths stuck at stubbornly high levels in recent months, federal data shows. 

That means Canadian families continue to lose loved ones to this virus on a regular basis, all while hospitals are still admitting seriously ill COVID-19 patients in the midst of ongoing staff shortages, surgery backlogs and a busy respiratory virus season.

"We all have sort of moved into another phase of living with the virus," said Dr. Kali Barrett, a critical care physician with the University Health Network in Toronto. 

"But for those at risk, the pandemic continues to be a real and legitimate threat."

Read more from CBC Health's Lauren Pelley about who is still dying from COVID-19 in Canada. 

Real-time data from across Ontario reveals that an average of 2,158 children arrived at hospital emergency rooms for respiratory illnesses each day over the past week, nearly triple the average for this time of year. (drpnncpptak/Shutterstock)

Triple the usual number of kids are coming to Ontario ERs with respiratory illnesses. Here's why

Hospital admissions of children also running far above seasonal norms

Respiratory illnesses are running rampant among children, resulting in hospital visits and admissions at far higher rates than normal for this time of year, according to fresh data from hospitals across Ontario. 

Similar surges are being reported at hospitals across Canada. Although no other province makes public as much data on respiratory illnesses, experts say Ontario's figures help give a clearer picture of the extent of the problem nationwide. 

The number of kids aged five to 17 who came to hospital emergency rooms with respiratory complaints over the past week was more than triple the seasonal average, according to Ontario's Acute Care Enhanced Surveillance (ACES) database. 

For kids up to four years old, daily ER visits for respiratory illnesses during the same period stood at more than double the usual number, ACES showed Wednesday. 

Combining the two age groups, it means some 2,160 children visited ERs for respiratory illnesses each day in the province over the past week, a time of year when that figure historically averages about 800. 

The trend is happening at comparable rates across all regions of Ontario and, in some cases, is putting hospitals under such pressure they've had to cancel surgeries or redirect patients.

Medical experts link the surge in illnesses among children to the withdrawal of preventive public health measures such as mask-wearing that had been in place since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Read more from CBC Health's Mike Crawley on what's behind the surge of pediatric patients in Ontario's emergency rooms. 

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