The Cost of the Nutritious Food Basket in Toronto - 2003
What is the Nutritious Food Basket?
The nutritious food basket is a food costing tool that
measures the cost of healthy eating based on recommendations set by
Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating (1992) and Nutrition Recommendations
(1990).
The Nutritious Food Basket is a list of foods that can be priced to estimate the
average cost of feeding 23 different age/sex groups (refer to Table 1).
The selection of foods included in the Nutritious Food Basket is based on
nutrient value. The foods are among those frequently purchased. The food items
are chosen according to the lowest available price in several different
grocery stores.
The Food Basket
The Food Basket includes 66 basic food items from the four
food groups of Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating.
These basic food items can be changed to meet personal food preferences, e.g.,
bok choy, kale or collards can replace
broccoli; vegetarians may choose fortified soy beverage in place of milk or
cheese.
The Nutritious Food Basket:
- is economical because it includes basic food items and
generally does not include processed foods, snack foods and
restaurant/take-out foods
- is based on the assumption that people have the
necessary food skills to be able to prepare most meals from scratch
- can be used by any age and ethnic group or income level
- excludes non-food items such as laundry detergent, soap
and paper products
How is the Nutritious Food Basket Calculated?
As outlined by the Ontario Ministry of Health (MoH), Toronto Public Health
staff use a formula to determine the cost of the Nutritious Food Basket based on
the 66 food items collected from 12 stores across the City. These steps need to be followed in order to calculate the
Nutritious Food Basket.
STEP 1:
Select the stores to survey
STEP 2:
Train Public Health staff to conduct the surveys
STEP 3:
Conduct the in-store pricing
STEP 4:
Calculate the cost of all food items surveyed, using the MoH's software program
The software program automatically adds
5% to the basket cost to cover the cost
of miscellaneous foods used in meal
preparation, e.g., spices, seasonings,
condiments, baking supplies, coffee/tea.
Nutritious Food Basket Pricing Results for Toronto
Family of four: two parents, boy 13 years,
girl 8 years |
$118.24.00/week
$511.98/month |
| Single male, 35 years |
$ 36.24/week, $156.92/month |
| Widowed female, 70 years |
$ 25.91/week, $112.19/month |
| Mother, 24 years with child, 2 years |
$ 41.93/week, $181.55/month |
| |
|
- The results from June 2003 indicate that food costs have
decreased by about 2.27%
since the June 2002 survey.
- The first NFB was 1999, since then the prices have
increased by nearly 10%.
Table #1: Weekly Cost of the Nutritious Food Basket in Toronto (June,2003)
| Child |
1
2-3
4-6 |
13.61
14.40
18.91 |
| Boy |
7-9
10-12
13-15
16-18 |
22.98
28.48
33.59
39.31 |
| Girl |
7-9
10-12
13-15
16-18 |
22.04
26.10
28.10
26.87 |
| Man |
19-24
25-49
50-74
75+ |
37.29
36.24
32.38
29.76 |
| Woman |
19-24
25-49
50-74
75+ |
27.53
26.37
25.91
25.17 |
Pregnancy
Trimester 1
Trimesters 2,3
Lactation |
13-15 |
31.01
32.75
33.67 |
Trimester 1
Trimesters 2,3
Lactation |
16-18 |
31.09
33.33
34.22 |
Trimester 1
Trimesters 2,3
Lactation |
19-24 |
30-28
32.29
33.05 |
Trimester 1
Trimesters 2,3
Lactation |
25-49 |
28.98
30.72
31.34 |
How to Calculate the Food Costs of a Nutritious Food Basket
Follow the steps below to find out the cost of a weekly nutritious food basket.
Use Table
# 1 to complete calculations for your family or group. Table #2 shows an example
of how
much it will cost a family of four. Use Table #3 to complete calculations for
another
household.
| STEP 1: |
Write down the age and sex of all the people you are feeding.
For example:
Man, 40 years old
Woman, 38 years old
Boy, 13 years old
Girl, 8 years old
|
| STEP 2: |
Using Table #1, write down the cost of feeding each person. |
| STEP 3: |
This is your subtotal. |
| STEP 4: |
It costs a little more to feed a small group of people and less to feed a large
group. Use the following adjustments for household size:
1 person ¨C multiply by 1.15
2 people ¨C multiply by 1.10
3 people ¨C multiply by 1.05
4 people ¨C make no change
5 people ¨C multiply by 0.95
6+ people ¨C multiply by 0.90 |
| STEP 5: |
To determine the cost per month, multiply by 4.33 |
Table #2 Example: Reference Family of 4, Toronto (June, 2002)
| Man |
40 |
36.24 |
| Woman |
38 |
26.37 |
| Boy |
13 |
33.59 |
| Girl |
8 |
22.04 |
| Subtotal= |
|
118.24 |
| Total |
|
118.24 x no adjustment =
118.24 x 4.33 = 511.98 / month |
Table #3 Your Household
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| Subtotal
= |
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TOTAL
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|
______ x __ adjustment =
______ x 4.33=______ /month |
How to Use the Nutritious Food Basket Information
- Acts as an effective tool to raise awareness about the cost of healthy eating
- Provides information that can be used to promote and support policy development
to
increase access to healthy foods
- Helps an individual, family or group estimate the cost of healthy eating
- Helps to compare the cost of healthy eating to other basic living expenses, such
as
housing/shelter, transportation, clothing and child care in relation to income
- Serves as an educational tool to teach budgeting in family studies courses and
home
management programs
Rice and Peas
| 2 cups |
water |
500 mL |
Place the water rice and salt in a saucepan.
Turn the heat to high and bring to a toil. Cover, reduce the heat to low and
continue to cook for 10 minutes. Prepare the onion and garlic.
Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion,
garlic and saute until softened. Stir in the thyme, pepper, cayenne and
pigeon peas.
Pour the pigeon pea mixture over the rice, cover and cook over low heat
for another 15 minutes or until the rice is tender. Fluff the rice gently to
mix.
Serves 4 Costs: $0.29 per serving |
| 1 cup |
rice |
250 mL |
| 1/2 tsp |
salt |
2 mL |
| 1 |
medium onion,
cleaned and chopped |
|
| 1 |
clove garlic, minced |
|
| 1/2 tsp |
dried thyme |
1 mL |
| 1/4 tsp |
pepper |
pinch |
| pinch |
cayenne (optional) |
pinch |
| 1 |
can(19 oz/540 mL) pigeon peas, rinsed and drained |
|
| 1 tsp |
vegetable oil |
15 mL |
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|
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Toronto Public Health
For more information, contact:
Toronto Health Connection, 416-338-7600
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