opinion: healthy eating advice has to start with affordability
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a more useful conversation is around healthy eating is about practical nutrition: how people can get more nourishment from the food they can afford, the time they have and the routines they already live with.
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canadians hear a lot of advice about how to eat better.
eat more fruits and vegetables. choose whole foods. get enough protein and fibre. read labels. cook more often. limit ultra-processed foods.
it is good advice. but too often, it is given as if cost, time, access and stress are minor details.
they are not.
for many people, the hardest part of healthy eating is not knowing what to do. it is making those choices consistently when groceries are more expensive, schedules are full and the cheaper, easier option is always within reach.
that is why affordability must be part of any serious conversation about nutrition.
according to statistics canada, food purchased from stores rose 4.4 per cent year over year in march, while fresh vegetables increased 7.8 per cent, the largest annual increase for fresh vegetables since august 2023. those numbers matter because they affect the choices people make every week.
when food prices rise, people do not stop caring about health. they start making trade-offs.
a parent may buy the snack that fills the lunchbox and costs less. a student may choose what is convenient and predictable. a senior may avoid buying fresh food because it could spoil before it is used. a worker on the road may grab whatever is available at a gas station because that is what fits the day.
none of that means people are failing. it means the food environment often makes the healthier choice harder.
we need to take the guilt out of the conversation.
healthy eating can sometimes sound like an all-or-nothing project. meal prep every sunday. fresh ingredients every day. perfectly balanced meals. no shortcuts. no processed food. no compromise.
it does not reflect reality for many canadians.
a more useful conversation is about practical nutrition: how people can get more nourishment from the food they can afford, the time they have and the routines they already live with.
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that means looking beyond price alone.
the cheapest food is not always the best value if it does not satisfy hunger or provide much nutrition. at the same time, healthier food cannot be treated as a premium category reserved for people with more disposable income. if better nutrition is only available to those who can afford specialty products, we have not solved anything.
canada is fortunate to have a strong public voice talking about food affordability in dr. sylvain charlebois. widely known as “the food professor,” he has helped keep grocery prices, food security and food system pressures in the national conversation, including through canada’s food price report. that work matters. we need more people building on it, especially from the health and nutrition side. because the next question after “what does food cost?” should be “what does that food actually give us?”
for me, this issue started at home.
years ago, one of my sons would eat cereal in the morning and still be hungry soon afterward. we were a busy family with four children, school, sports and all the usual rushing around. i was not trying to create a perfect health food. i was trying to solve a practical problem: how do you give a child something convenient that also helps fill them up and gives their body something useful?
that question stayed with me.
it eventually became part of the work i do. but the broader issue is much bigger than one company. it is about how we make healthier eating easier for people who are already stretched.
during covid, i saw that need in a different way.
the demand for food donations changed dramatically. it was not only traditional food-bank channels. churches and community groups were suddenly helping people who had never expected to need support. i remember hearing about single mothers who could not work because their children were home from school, but who also could not afford childcare, healthy food and everything else at once.
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that kind of pressure does not just affect a grocery bill. it affects health, stress, energy and dignity.
i also think about an elderly woman on a fixed income who told me she stretched food carefully because she needed it to last. i think about a truck driver who began taking better food with him on long routes instead of relying on convenience-store snacks. different lives, different challenges, same underlying issue: people are trying to make better choices inside imperfect circumstances.
that is where practical nutrition matters.
it is not about telling people to overhaul everything. it is about helping them make small, realistic improvements more often.
can a snack or meal help keep someone full longer? does it contain protein or fibre? does it help someone add fruits, vegetables, or whole foods to their day? is it something they will actually eat? is it convenient enough to prevent a worse choice later?
these questions may sound simple, but they are the questions many households are already asking in their own way.
health canada’s food guide encourages canadians to eat plenty of vegetables and fruits, whole grains, and protein foods, while limiting highly processed foods. the challenge is making that advice achievable in real life.
that will require more than individual willpower.
food companies need to think harder about affordability, not just premium wellness. retailers need to make healthier grab-and-go options easier to find. policymakers need to understand that food affordability is also a health issue. and all of us need to stop assuming that people who struggle to eat well simply do not know better.
most people know what healthy eating looks like. what they need are options that fit their lives.
affordable nutrition is not about perfect meals, perfect shopping lists or perfect discipline. it is about progress. it is about making it easier for people to choose foods that nourish, satisfy and stretch a little further.
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healthy eating should not be a luxury. it should be something more canadians can realistically do.
sherri belton, msc, is the co-founder and ceo of soul7 produce, a toronto-based food company focused on making convenient, nutrient-dense food more accessible to canadians. a mother of four from an active sports family, she began developing the company’s approach after looking for better options that could help keep her own children full and nourished. her work is shaped by a belief that healthy eating should be practical, affordable, and rooted in real food.
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