Food insecurity is a serious public health issue because individuals’ health and well-being are closely linked to household food insecurity. People living in food insecure households are much more likely than others to be diagnosed with physical and mental health conditions including, diabetes, oral health problems, cardiovascular disease, anxiety and depression, chronic pain, and infectious diseases.
Food Insecurity
What is food insecurity?
Food insecurity is not having enough income to buy food. For many families in Durham Region, being unable to buy nutritious food is a reality. Food insecure households struggle and must choose between paying for food, rent, bills and other basic needs.1
For these families, food insecurity means:1
- Worrying that food will run out.
- Having to compromise on the type of food they eat or eat less food than they need.
- Skipping meals altogether.
- Eating the same few foods for all their meals.
- Going without eating so their children can eat.
While inflation, and in particular food inflation, continues to increase at very high rates, for most of Ontario, people with low incomes do not have enough income to cover the costs of basic living, including food.
Nearly three in 10 Durham Region households experience food insecurity in 2026.
Certain social and economic situations increase the risk of experiencing food insecurity. There is a higher rate of food insecurity in groups such as:2
- Single parent female-led households with children.
- Households with employment insurance/workers’ compensation or social assistance as the main source of income.
- Those living in rental housing, and
- Racialized peoples.
Check out "Food Insecurity in Durham Region" to learn more about the impact of food insecurity.
Who is most affected by food insecurity?
Food insecurity is closely linked to income – with lower household income, the risk of food insecurity increases. In 2026, 29 per cent of Durham Region households did not have enough money to buy food.
Having a job is often not enough. In 2021, 52 per cent of food insecure households in Ontario were in the workforce relying on low-wage employment, short term or precarious work, or working multiple jobs as their main source of income. Low-wage jobs and inconsistent work leave too many workers without enough income to buy food.
Among Ontarians who receive social assistance, approximately two-thirds (67.2 per cent) reported food insecurity in 2021. The high rates of food insecurity among households receiving social assistance in Ontario suggest that it fails to meet recipients’ basic needs.
Monitoring food affordability in Durham Region
The price of a basic healthy diet for a family of four
Durham Region Health Department found that in June 2026, the price of a basic healthy diet for a reference family of four in Durham Region was $305 per week or $1,326 per month.
How we calculate food affordability
Durham Region Health Department uses the Ontario Nutritious Food Basket (ONFB) to survey food prices in grocery stores located throughout Durham Region. The results of the ONFB survey are used to determine if food is affordable for Durham Region residents. The cost of the ONFB and rental housing can be compared to individual and family incomes to determine whether food is affordable.
The cost of the ONFB is calculated based on the average lowest cost of 61 food items surveyed in June 2024, based on Canada’s Food Guide (vegetables and fruit, whole grain foods and protein foods) and that reflect Canadian eating and purchasing patterns.
The ONFB does not include certain types of food and other items such as:
- Frozen and freshly-prepared meals
- Soft drinks
- Snack foods
- Special dietary foods such as gluten-free
- Baby and toddler foods
- Religious and cultural foods
- Foods sourced using traditional methods
- Hygiene and household cleaning products sold in grocery stores
The ONFB also assumes that most people have the time, food skills and equipment to be able to prepare most meals from scratch and have access to quality grocery stores.
Healthy Beginnings
Stronger Tomorrows
Addressing infant food insecurity today builds a healthier, more equitable Durham Region for tomorrow.
Every baby deserves a healthy start.
Good infant nutrition supports healthy growth and development. Yet many Durham Region families face financial pressures that can make meeting their baby’s feeding needs a challenge.
View the infographic to learn more about infant nutrition challenges in Durham Region and explore four actions that can help create healthier beginnings and stronger tomorrows.
Moving toward income solutions
Food insecurity is an income problem rooted in poverty.2 Community-based food programs such as food/breast milk/formula banks, food recovery programs, food skills programs, alternate food systems, community kitchens and gardens may provide short-term relief but are not effective in reducing long-term food insecurity because they do not address inadequate household income.2
Solutions that reduce food insecurity include:5
- Affordable housing, transportation and child care.
- Secure, quality jobs, with living wages and benefits.
- Social assistance programs that provide adequate benefits to cover real costs of living.
- Promote income-based policy solutions that strengthen economic supports for families.
Strengthen community action:
- Address drivers of food insecurity, including poverty, housing affordability, and precarious employment.
- Build upstream approaches into community food initiatives, such as building income advocacy into emergency food programs.
- Engage people with lived experience to inform policy recommendations.
Spread the word!
Talk to friends, family, and colleagues about the link between income and food insecurity and solutions.
- Share this information with others.
- Learn more about how food insecurity affects health.
- Volunteer at a free tax clinic! Many people living with low income are eligible for government benefits but won’t receive them unless they file for income tax. You can support your community by volunteering your time and skills at a local free tax clinic.
- Find out why income solutions are needed to reduce food insecurity.
- Share information about financial benefits and services available for people living with low income in Durham.
- Advocate for income solutions to food insecurity by participating in coalitions that address:
- Poverty
- Affordable housing
- Affordable child care
- Living wage jobs
- Food insecurity
Additional food insecurity resources
- Food Insecurity and Food Affordability infographic in Ontario, 2025
- Food Insecurity and Food Affordability in Ontario, 2025
- Food Insecurity in Durham infographic, 2026 (Durham Region Health Department)
- Position Statement on Responses to Food Insecurity (Ontario Dietitians in Public Health)
- Call to Action on Household Food Insecurity 2026
- Dietitians of Canada Position Statement on Household Food Insecurity in Canada
- Feed Ontario - Hunger Report 2025: Hunger hurts
- Basic Income and Food Insecurity
- Durham Living Wage Network
- What can be done to reduce food insecurity in Canada?
- Ontario Living Wage Network
- The Right to Food
- Indigenous Food Systems Network
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Health Canada. Household Food Insecurity in Canada: Overview. Government of Canada. Household food insecurity is defined as inadequate or insecure access to food because of financial constraints.
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Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion (Public Health Ontario); Ontario Dietitians in Public Health. Food Insecurity & Food Affordability in Ontario. Toronto, ON: King’s Printer for Ontario; 2025.
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Tarasuk V, Li T, Fafard St-Germain AA. Household Food Insecurity in Canada, 2021. Toronto, ON: Research to identify policy options to reduce food insecurity (PROOF); 2022.
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Durham Region Health Department. The Price of Eating Well in Durham Region 2023. Regional Municipality of Durham; 2023.
- Ontario Dietitians in Public Health. Call to Action on Household Food Insecurity. May 2026.
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