To ease the symptoms of chronic conditions, a modified Mediterranean diet is recommended but the cost of these foods are unaffordable for many people in Canada.
To ease the symptoms of chronic conditions, a modified Mediterranean diet is recommended but the cost of these foods are unaffordable for many people in Canada. Credit: Iñigo De la Maza / Unsplash Credit: Iñigo De la Maza / Unsplash

In the opening scene of the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the cool, blond girls mock the main character for bringing her homemade Greek food in a plastic container for lunch. “Moose caca” they joke, when she tells them it’s Moussaka. As a child of immigrants who often brought thermoses of leftovers to lunch, I knew the lines of social status were drawn with the contents of our lunch boxes.

In grade school, I begged my mother to pack me fruit roll ups and bags of chips and Kool-Aid – the makings of normal kids’ lunch bags. But she insisted that homemade is better than store bought and continued to pack me tuna salad sandwiches, baby carrots, and – to the disappointment of my ten-year-old self – cottage cheese. 

Now, as an adult who knows the price of tuna, carrots, and cottage cheese, I realize how lucky I was that my mother worked within our means and fed us healthy foods. 

Making healthy choices during a cost-of-living crisis 

The cultural promotion of healthy eating and the reality of its costs are at odds. 

Fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats are expensive. And not only because of supply chain disruptions and inflation, but because of corporate greed. A Toronto Star investigation published earlier this month suggests that Canadian grocery empires are using the excuse of inflation to mark up products and increase their profit margins. 

It is no surprise that grocery tycoons are denying this and attributing their increased profit margins on efficiencies. 

Yes, some production costs have increased. But grocers are raising their prices more than they have to. And just like the telecommunications industry, grocers in Canada have a “de facto oligopoly.” Consumers have very little choice when it comes to where they buy their groceries. 

The cost of food has increased at a higher rate than inflation and wages have remained stagnant. When that happens, we change our behaviours to compensate for the difference.

That can look like reaching for cheaper kinds or cuts of meat, stocking up during sales, and picking prepared meals instead of fresh, whole foods. It can also look like more people accessing food banks. 

Food insecurity and the social determinants of health 

Early evidence suggests that the pandemic may have slightly increased food insecurity in Canada, especially in populations that were already vulnerable.

Children in food insecure households are more likely to develop depression, inattention and hyperactivity issues. In adults, it expresses as poorer mental and physical health, high anxiety and stress. 

It is a vicious cycle; food insecurity makes managing chronic disease through diet more difficult. This leads to higher health care costs, time off work, and less time to buy and prepare healthy foods.

The Canada Food Guide, dietitians, and doctors tell us one thing: eat whole foods and prepare meals at home. But our food infrastructure doesn’t make that easy. Fresh vegetables, fruits, and healthy fats like avocados and olive oil are already out of reach for many families. And recent mark ups are making it worse.  

In the short term, we make concessions at the cost of our nutrition. In the long term, it’s making us sick and sicker.

Who is wellness and healthy eating for? 

I have PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome), a common, but widely misunderstood, hormonal disorder. To ease the symptoms of this and many other chronic conditions, it is recommended to follow what is often referred to as the modified Mediterranean diet. It consists of prioritizing lean meats, fresh fish, healthy fats, and whole grains.  

Eating to keep my body from turning on me costs me — money and time. I estimate it takes me four hours of food planning and shopping a week. And that does not include the daily time commitment to cooking meals from scratch. 

The current food system means healthy eating is a privilege for those who have the time and money. 

In a Dalhousie University study, just over half of participants cited the largest barrier to the adoption of the Food Guide’s guidelines is affordability. Based on 2019, pre-pandemic data, Health Canada claims following the guide saves families around 6 per cent on their grocery bills. But their analysis does not seem to include the labour costs of shopping, storing, and preparing the foods that make up healthy plates. 

Address the corporate greed, not the consumer making tough choices  

The national nutritious food basket is a tool, aligned with the Food Guide, to monitor the price of healthy eating in Canada. In 2019, the nutritious basket cost $901 per month, for a family of four. I think that is a conservative estimate that doesn’t account for wide-array of health needs. The basket calculation doesn’t account for cultural or dietary restrictions like Kosher or Halal and allergy-safe products. Many staple foods of the Mediterranean diet that manage my symptoms aren’t part of the list either. 

An Ottawa Public Health report factors the cost of the basket into monthly budgets of families and individuals. It is clear that when money is tight, like it certainly is for many families in Canada right now, spending money on healthy foods is overridden by paying for other necessities like utilities and medications. 

Proposed tips for following the guide are laughable, instructing people to buy misshapen produce and to shop at discount grocery stores. When I shop at FreshCo, a grocer with a reputation for lower prices but still owned by a conglomerate and I price match, I rarely save more than a few dollars a week on produce. 

Grocery oligarchs are getting rich while people are becoming more food insecure. An individual alone can not fight an entire system they set up to make whole foods a premium and calorie-dense, processed foods accessible and cheap. 

The answer is not to advise people to stock up on canned beans and freeze vegetables they got from the reduced cart. The answer is to go after greedy grocery empires who are getting rich from charging premiums for the fresh food we need to lead healthy lives.