Eating Healthy in Canada IS More Expensive
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lilRicki
Posts: 4,555 Member
I've read a lot of debate about how eating healthy isn't more expensive then eating processed food. This is from a Canadian perspective, I don't know how the rest of the world works.
"A family on a healthy diet can expect to pay $2,000 more a year for food than one having less nutritious meals, say researchers who recommend that the cost gap be closed.
The research in Thursday's issue of British Medical Journal Open reviewed 27 studies from 10 high-income countries to evaluate the price differences of foods and diet patterns.
"Our results indicate that lowering the price of healthier diet patterns — on average about $1.50/day more expensive — should be a goal of public health and policy efforts, and some studies suggest that this intervention can indeed reduce consumption of unhealthy foods," Dariush Mozaffarian, the study's senior author and a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health and his co-authors concluded.
Eating a healthier diet rich in fruits, vegetables, fish, and nuts would increase food costs for one person by about $550 a year, the researchers said. Diets rich in processed foods, meats and refined grains were considered unhealthy.
Among food groups, meats and protein showed the highest price difference and cost about 29 cents more per serving.
Previously, Mozaffarian's team suggested taxing less healthy foods together with subsidies for healthier foods would balance price differences.
"That's a real price difference, $1.50 for a low-income family could be an important barrier," Mozaffarian said in an interview. "On the other hand, that's a cup of coffee, that's a trivial cost compared to the enormous burdens of heart disease, obesity, diabetes that are due to poor diet."
The $1.50 per day is hugely significant for anyone working with budget constraints, said Valerie Tarasuk, a professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto.
Tarasuk said nearly four million Canadians struggle to put food on the table because of a lack of money, based on data from Statistics Canada.
"We have to make sure everybody has the possibility of buying a healthy diet [that] is reasonably priced and we haven't done that now."
Tarasuk commended Newfoundland and Labrador's government, which in 2006, as part of the province's poverty reduction strategy, tied social assistance to inflation. "Indexing to inflation is huge," Tarasuk said.
The consequences of not addressing the problem appear in terms of higher health-care costs and low-income Canadians who are sicker and less productive members of society, she said."
"A family on a healthy diet can expect to pay $2,000 more a year for food than one having less nutritious meals, say researchers who recommend that the cost gap be closed.
The research in Thursday's issue of British Medical Journal Open reviewed 27 studies from 10 high-income countries to evaluate the price differences of foods and diet patterns.
"Our results indicate that lowering the price of healthier diet patterns — on average about $1.50/day more expensive — should be a goal of public health and policy efforts, and some studies suggest that this intervention can indeed reduce consumption of unhealthy foods," Dariush Mozaffarian, the study's senior author and a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health and his co-authors concluded.
Eating a healthier diet rich in fruits, vegetables, fish, and nuts would increase food costs for one person by about $550 a year, the researchers said. Diets rich in processed foods, meats and refined grains were considered unhealthy.
Among food groups, meats and protein showed the highest price difference and cost about 29 cents more per serving.
Previously, Mozaffarian's team suggested taxing less healthy foods together with subsidies for healthier foods would balance price differences.
"That's a real price difference, $1.50 for a low-income family could be an important barrier," Mozaffarian said in an interview. "On the other hand, that's a cup of coffee, that's a trivial cost compared to the enormous burdens of heart disease, obesity, diabetes that are due to poor diet."
The $1.50 per day is hugely significant for anyone working with budget constraints, said Valerie Tarasuk, a professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto.
Tarasuk said nearly four million Canadians struggle to put food on the table because of a lack of money, based on data from Statistics Canada.
"We have to make sure everybody has the possibility of buying a healthy diet [that] is reasonably priced and we haven't done that now."
Tarasuk commended Newfoundland and Labrador's government, which in 2006, as part of the province's poverty reduction strategy, tied social assistance to inflation. "Indexing to inflation is huge," Tarasuk said.
The consequences of not addressing the problem appear in terms of higher health-care costs and low-income Canadians who are sicker and less productive members of society, she said."
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Replies
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Eating period is expensive in Canada! Look at the price of groceries compared to the United States, Especially the dairy market !!0
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I'd starve to death in Canada, considering how much everything is there (at least what everyone tells me).
Why IS food so much more expensive in Canada? I mean, the US is right next door and food prices are so much cheaper.0 -
It's basically all relative. Most people in North America could never afford a vehicle, even a used one if they had to pay Australian prices, but it doesn't stop the Aussies.I'd starve to death in Canada, considering how much everything is there (at least what everyone tells me).
Why IS food so much more expensive in Canada? I mean, the US is right next door and food prices are so much cheaper.0 -
By:Dana FlavelleEconomy, Published on Wed Feb 06 2013
Everything from books to hockey pants and cars could be cheaper if Ottawa eliminated many import tariffs or brought them into line with lower U.S. rates, a Senate committee says.
Higher tariffs are one of the key causes of a persistent Canada-U.S. price gap that has infuriated many consumers and led federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to call for the senate study.
In a landmark report issued Wednesday, the senate committee on national finance calls on Ottawa to review its tariff policies, noting that in some cases they protect industries that no longer exist.
“Hockey pants that are brought into Canada, manufactured in China, have an 18 per cent tariff. In the U.S., it’s 2.9 per cent. Why the difference? Maybe we were trying to protect a Canadian manufacturer years ago. But they’re all gone now. That one shocked us,” said Senator Joseph Day, who chaired the senate committee.
Flaherty said earlier in the day he was open to the idea of reviewing federal tariffs.
“We’ve been looking at our tariff situation carefully, particularly with respect to consumer goods in Canada to see what we could do,” he said after giving a speech to the Economic Club of Canada at noon.
“Tariffs are obviously sources of revenue, as well, and I have revenue concerns as finance minister, but as a general rule we would like to eliminate tariffs going forward.”
The Retail Council of Canada, which has borne the brunt of most consumers’ ire over the Canada-U.S. price gap, applauded the report’s findings, noting it had vindicated many of its claims.
“We’re hopeful the government will act on the senate recommendations. They have an opportunity in the upcoming budget which we understand will be in March,” said David Wilkes, the association’s senior vice-president.
Canadian consumers feel “ripped off,” the committee said in its report, called The Canada U.S. Price Gap . The report blamed everything from “country pricing” — the practice of some large multinational suppliers of charging Canadian retailers more than U.S. merchants — to higher fuel prices in Canada.
But the senators also put the onus on Canadian consumers to become more price conscious and get better at negotiating with retailers, noting smart phone applications and Internet sites are making that easier.
“It’s important for us to understand what the market will bear. The vendor is going to sell at the highest possible price he or she can get,” Day told a press conference after the report was released.
The study, which found no single factor explains all price discrepancies, made three other recommendations. They include:
• Integrating Canada-U.S. safety standards to remove requirements for extra tests in Canada.
• Raising the minimum threshold for goods that can be shipped duty free through the postal service. This would benefit consumers who shop online on U.S. sites for import into Canada, for example. Many consumers complain that duty, taxes and brokerage fees can nearly double the cost of ordering small items online. The current minimum is $20. Many countries are considering raising that to $100, the committee noted.
Eliminating the 10 per cent markup that exclusive Canadian distributors can add to U.S. books imported into Canada.
Canadian consumers have been complaining about the price gap since 2007 when the once lowly Canadian dollar soared above parity with the U.S. greenback.
Goods in Canada were 24 per cent more expensive, on average, in 2007 and still 14 per cent higher last spring, said Doug Porter, deputy chief economist at BMO Capital Markets, who has been informally tracking a basket of goods over the years.
The price gap was obvious to Canadians who shop online, travel in the U.S. or buy books that contain both price points on the cover, the senate committee noted.
Consumer outrage found a new focus when U.S. retailer J. Crew opened its first Canadian store and website last year, with sharply higher prices.
Flaherty responded last September by asking the senate committee to investigate the causes of the price gap.
Even some automobiles made in Canada are priced significantly higher here than in the U.S., according to the report called The Canada-US Price Gap.
A Toyota Rav4 made in Woodstock is cheaper in Hawaii than in Ontario, the report noted.
When the Canadian dollar is at par, consumers naturally wonder: “Are we being gouged?” the report asked.
Tariffs generated $3.6 billion in revenue for the federal government in 2010-2011, or about 1.5 per cent of total budget revenues, the committee noted.
TL;DR...tariffs are higher here for no good reason, and Canadians aren't b!tching about it until recently.0 -
EVERYthing is more expensive in Canada. So this doesn't surprise me. But hey, you get your free healthcare, right? :bigsmile:0
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EVERYthing is more expensive in Canada. So this doesn't surprise me. But hey, you get your free healthcare, right? :bigsmile:
yep, because most of us have diabetes and heart disease
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I live 20 minutes from the border, so I do a lot of my grocery shopping in Washington state. Dairy, meats, and eggs are all substantially cheaper. Add a tank of gas plus some extra fuel cans, and you've saved a heck of a lot of money for a trip that only takes about three hours. Then add in online purchases shipped to a mailbox or holding company, and you're really laughing.
And customs doesn't blink when you bring a bottle of wine back on a day trip that is under $10. A bottle of Apothic Red is $8 at Costco in WA and $16 or $17 at the BC government liquor stores. I bring a bottle of wine back every single trip.
We're very fortunate we have the ability to do this. If we still lived in Edmonton, it would be a very different story.0 -
You should visit Norway. No wonder they're all skinny there - it costs a fortune to eat anything.0
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Yes we have free health care but we are also taxed to death!!!
I love having 30% of my paycheck go to the government every other week and I also love paying 13% tax on everything that I buy. :noway:0 -
Yes we have free health care but we are also taxed to death!!!
I love having 30% of my paycheck go to the government every other week and I also love paying 13% tax on everything that I buy. :noway:
Our family pays over $300/month for medical costs in BC, plus my husbands employers pay another $168 towards our benifits....not exactly free.
And food is crazy expensive!! We live in a small Northern BC town, we pay higher prices just for being in Canada, and then they add fuel costs onto that for trucking it into us. The higher the fuel costs go, the higher the food prices go.0 -
It's basically all relative. Most people in North America could never afford a vehicle, even a used one if they had to pay Australian prices, but it doesn't stop the Aussies.I'd starve to death in Canada, considering how much everything is there (at least what everyone tells me).
Why IS food so much more expensive in Canada? I mean, the US is right next door and food prices are so much cheaper.
Yeah, but it's kind of obvious why Australian prices are so high. Not so much with Canada.0 -
I'd starve to death in Canada, considering how much everything is there (at least what everyone tells me).
Why IS food so much more expensive in Canada? I mean, the US is right next door and food prices are so much cheaper.
Welcome to Canada. Great country (well except the weather) .. but being gouged for everything sucks.
It costs WAY more to eat healthier in Canada.
Even if you don't eat healthy .. it is still way more. The 99 cent value menu in the US at Wendy's is $1.89 in Canada. So just about double. Makes you wonder .. yes Canadians are getting screwed.0 -
I do quite a bit of shopping in Belligham......there are some groceries that are way cheaper than here and some that are way more expensive.
The price of beer however makes me want to cry.0 -
I'll be trying to survive the chaos of the Bellingham Costco tomorrow. lol
No one knows how to drive their shopping carts. :explode:0 -
Why IS food so much more expensive in Canada? I mean, the US is right next door and food prices are so much cheaper.
The US subsidizes the crap out of food production. And Canada has, in general, higher standards for food safety, especially when it comes to meat production.
All that costs ka-ching.0 -
Why IS food so much more expensive in Canada? I mean, the US is right next door and food prices are so much cheaper.
The US subsidizes the crap out of food production. And Canada has, in general, higher standards for food safety, especially when it comes to meat production.
All that costs ka-ching.
Funny how in the US, who call themselves the capitalists, subsidize their food (using taxes of course) and resulting with cheaper food at the grocery store. Then Canadians (the so-called socialists) drive over the border and buy the cheap, tax-subsidized food, without paying US taxes. Now that's a burn.0 -
I live north of Seattle and hate dealing with all the crowded stores because all the Canadians are all over the place trying to get a deal... I love Canadians, but at least have some courtesy when you come over to our side. Of course, I'm not sure my 'Murican friends are very polite when they cross over, and I apologize for that lol! Everything is more expensive in Canada, but the educated people make much more money than the rest of us. I wouldn't mind paying a bit more for groceries if I made almost double the money for doing the same job lol!0
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Why IS food so much more expensive in Canada? I mean, the US is right next door and food prices are so much cheaper.
The US subsidizes the crap out of food production. And Canada has, in general, higher standards for food safety, especially when it comes to meat production.
All that costs ka-ching.
^^^This plus it depends where you live in Canada. I'm near the American border in a highly populated area and other than dairy products I don't see a lot of difference between Canadian and American food prices. My daughter lives 5 hours north of me and the food prices there are crazy because everything is trucked in from a major depot that is at least 4 hours away.0 -
Why IS food so much more expensive in Canada? I mean, the US is right next door and food prices are so much cheaper.
The US subsidizes the crap out of food production. And Canada has, in general, higher standards for food safety, especially when it comes to meat production.
All that costs ka-ching.
^^^This plus it depends where you live in Canada. I'm near the American border in a highly populated area and other than dairy products I don't see a lot of difference between Canadian and American food prices. My daughter lives 5 hours north of me and the food prices there are crazy because everything is trucked in from a major depot that is at least 4 hours away.
I live 15 minutes from the border and I rarely go over shopping because customs has become such a pain in the behind. When we do go over we get several chickens and boneless skinless chicken breasts. It's half the price! We also grab milk and cheese. Produce is a no no. Oh, and did I mention a case of beer? It's more than half the price in the US and they rarely send you over to pay duty on it.0 -
Cheese!! and dairy.
Dairy is BC is so expensive. We have relatives that ship us cheese from ON. I can buy a brick on sale here that is the regular price in ON.
I cant be bothered to drive to the US for food.0
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