PREPARED BY: Comprehensive Health Promotion

DATE: 2025-11-20

Household food insecurity refers to the inadequate or insecure access to food due to financial constraints which have severe negative impacts on physical health, mental health, the healthcare system, and overall social well-being^[1]. Evidence demonstrates a link between household food insecurity and perinatal mood disorders, birth complications, infant ED visits, developmental disorders, adolescent and adult mental health disorders, cardiovascular disease, and poor oral health^[2]. When an individual or family struggles to put food on the table, it is a sign of overall deprivation from insufficient or unstable incomes. In these cases, food is often sacrificed to pay for other costs of living.

Locally, Windsor and Essex County (WEC) had a 25.7% household food insecurity rate between 2023-2024, with a 27.2% rate in 2024 alone[3]. Younger people in Ontario have a higher prevalence of household food insecurity compared to older people; with the highest prevalence of all age groups in those under 18 years of age (30.7% in 2023)[4]. Since 1998, the Ontario Public Health Standards have mandated local health units to monitor food affordability through population health assessments and surveillance protocol using the Ontario Nutritious Food Basket (ONFB) tool. The ONFB^[5] is one of many food costing tools that measures the cost of basic eating that represents current nutrition recommendations and average food purchasing patterns. The ONFB tool accounts for the current market availability of many products and the ability to find the price of foods through online grocery platforms. 

CURRENT INITATIVES

In May 2025, the ONFB hybrid costing tool was used by the WECHU to collect data directly from stores and indirectly through online retailers. In addition, a new infant formula costing tool was used to collect the cost of powdered infant formula. Using these final numbers, a variety of income and family scenarios for the local community were calculated.

The 2025 cost of the Ontario Nutritious Food Basket, for a family of four in Windsor-Essex, is $271.83 per week ($1,181.08 per month). This is a change of -0.93% from 2024. While this slight decrease in food costs looks promising, food insecurity is not only about food, but rather the ability for households’ financial circumstances to afford food and other basic needs². 

A sample of income scenarios from the 2025 Real Cost of Eating in Windsor-Essex report is presented in Table 1 below. This table compares monthly income to the cost of rent and the 2025 ONFB calculation. Of note, a single male living on Ontario Works (OW) could spend close to their entire income on the rent for a bachelor apartment, leaving a shortage of $-420.18 for all other expenses. An expectant mother on Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), would have $238.71 remaining, and a single mother with two children would have $881.40 left for all other expenses. New this year was the addition of two income scenarios showcasing the cost difference between a parent with an infant who is formula-fed, and a parent with an infant who is exclusively breastfed.  For all scenarios in the Real Cost of Eating report, individuals and families who are on social assistance were left with less then $1,000 each month once rent, and food were accounted for. 

The Windsor-Essex ONFB data has been used as an essential component in the calculation of the Ontario Living Wage rates. A living wage is the minimum amount a person must earn to afford to live and participate in a specific community. The Ontario Living Wage Network will release the 2025 value in November. The 2025 Real Cost of Eating Well in Windsor-Essex report will be disseminated to local social planners, anti-poverty advocates, Registered Dietitians, and other community partners who will benefit from using this data within their program planning and advocacy efforts. To view the full report, visit www.wechu.org/healthy-eating/nutritious-food-basket