Food insecurity continues to plague one in four Chatham-Kent households.
According to Chatham-Kent (CK) Public Health, 23.4 per cent of households in the municipality were food insecure last year.
That means those affected either worried about running out of food and/or had limited food selection, compromised quality and/or quantity of food, missed meals, reduced food intake, or went a day or more without food, all because they didn't have enough money to buy food.
The 2025 data is up slightly from 2024, when 22.3 per cent of households were food insecure, and 2023, which put local food insecurity at around 20 per cent.
The cost of feeding a family of four is also up from 2024. CK public health officials reported that last year, the cost of feeding a family of four in Chatham-Kent was approximately $1,202 per month or $301 per week, higher than the $1,147 per month, or $287 per week in 2024.
Dr. Shanker Nesathurai, CK Medical Officer of Health, told the CK Board of Health at its monthly meeting on Monday that stable and adequate income ensures that everyone in Chatham-Kent can live a healthier life.
"If you had to pay for 30 dinners at $35 for a family of four, it's well over a thousand dollars a month, and that doesn't include breakfasts, lunches, packed meals for the kids if they have to go to school, and the occasional meal outside the home," said Dr. Nesathurai.
Nesathurai said food banks are helpful, but aren't a real, permanent solution to solving food insecurity.
"When you go to the food bank, you're getting only a couple of days worth of food, and you can go there once a month. So, emergency food assistance, I don't think that's much of a resolution. It's there to help people, but it's not much of a resolution," the doctor noted.
CK Board of Health Chair Brock McGregor said Ontario Works rates were cut by 20 per cent in 1995, and people are still struggling to put food on the table.
"We all know what expenses have done. Housing and food have outpaced inflation in other ways. People are getting 25-30 per cent less support than they did in 1994," McGregor told the board.
The CK Board of Health is asking CK Council to support Senate Bill S-206, "An Act to develop a national framework for a guaranteed livable basic income”.
"A basic income guarantee is an upstream public health policy solution that can address household food insecurity and reduce poverty. It is a cash transfer from the government to residents that ensures everyone has an adequate and secure income to meet basic needs," said the Board of Health.
CK Public Health said it's also reviewing strategies identified by the Ontario Dietitians workgroup to improve household food insecurity.
The public health unit noted that results from a study done between 2017 and 2019 show that people began to improve their physical and mental health, labour market participation, food insecurity, housing stability, financial status, and social relationships with a basic income guarantee.
