The Research, Learning & Evaluation Working Group of the Guelph & Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination has issued a report focuses on food security in our community.  The report highlights the impact of Collective Kitchens.  The full report is available on-line by clicking here.

The report includes statistics on food security in Guelph & Wellington.  These include:

• In the County of Wellington (including the City of Guelph) there are over 40 agencies or organizations that offer emergency access to food or assistance to individuals whom may be experiencing barriers to accessing food.
• The use of food banks has increased in both Wellington County and the City of Guelph over the past 4 years.
• A survey completed by all member agencies of the Ontario Association of Food Banks (OASFB) shows that there was an increase of 28.1% in the number of individuals served through the food banks in all of Wellington County (including the City of Guelph) between March 2005 and March 2008. This was a dramatic difference as the province as a whole has seen a 7.1% reduction in overall number of individuals served during the same time frame.
• The cost of a Nutritious Food Basket for a family of 4 is $149.09 for the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health Unit coverage area compared to the average cost for Ontario which is $141.44.
• A single person on Ontario Works receives $212 per month for basic needs.  To eat a healthy diet as per the NNFB guidelines a single male aged 25-49 years would need to spend approximately 80% of that allocation on food.  A woman of the same age would need to spend approximately 59% (based on a 4 week month).

(See the full report for reference for each of these statistics.)