Vancouver Island facing highest monthly cost for nutritious food in B.C.
Everyone is experiencing sticker shock at the grocery store these days, and a new report is putting a dollar figure on how much it’s costing families, per month, to eat healthy.
A new report from the BC Centre for Disease Control outlined how much it costs a family of four to maintain a healthy, balanced diet per month in the province.
Data from May 2022 showed it cost the average B.C. family $1,263 a month.
On Vancouver Island, we’re paying more, $1,366 per month.
Cindy Taylor does all the grocery shopping for her family of four on Vancouver Island and says every trip to the store brings the same reaction.
"Shocked. And it’s kind of like I do the double take, like is that the price for this item?" said Taylor.
Buying healthy for her family has become a challenge.
"It’s a constant battle in my mind at the grocery store. Do I save money or do I buy healthy?" said Taylor.
Economists blame shipping and transportation costs for the grocery price increases.
"The foods that are represented are fruits and vegetables, whole grains, proteins and some unsaturated fats," said Charmaine Enns, Vancouver Island medical health officer.
Enns says the high prices are hitting the island’s most vulnerable the hardest.
"The single parent families, households where someone is on disability, lower income households," she said.
The higher costs are leaving them to make some tough decisions that ultimately will effect their overall health.
"On where their money goes, and often it’s not to nutritious food," said Enns.
Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agra-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, says the question he gets the most is when will food prices come down.
"It’s something we feared last year and it’s happening," he said. "It is not going to happen and so there is a new normal out there."
He recommends shopping around, purchasing produce that is in season or searching out cheaper store brands that could save you a few dollars on your final bill.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Trudeau promises $1B in loans for child-care providers to expand care centres
The federal government is launching a new loan program to help child-care providers in Canada expand their spaces, and will be extending further student loan forgiveness and training options for early childhood educators, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.
Spring allergy season has begun. Where is it worse in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
'Nonsense:' Doug Ford slams lawsuits filed by Ontario school boards against social media platforms
Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against a trio of social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
N.B. man wins $64 million from Lotto 6/49
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
Multiple bridges in Calgary shut down for police incident
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
King Charles calls for acts of friendship in first public remarks since Kate's cancer diagnosis
King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.
Fallen crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison
Crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison for a massive fraud that unravelled with the collapse of FTX, once one of the world's most popular platforms for exchanging digital currency.
A dog and a bird formed an unlikely friendship. Their separation has infuriated followers
Peggy is a stout and muscular Staffordshire bull terrier, and Molly is a magpie, an Australian bird best known for swooping on humans during breeding season, not for befriending dogs. But in an emotional video posted online, Peggy’s owners announced that the animals had been separated.