Wages big issue for P.E.I. families facing food poverty

A UPEI professor is lauding the provincial government for setting a goal to reduce food poverty, and says a liveable income will be key to reaching that goal.

The Health and Wellness Department announced a new three-year wellness strategy Friday. It includes a commitment to set up a joint task force, made up of government and community groups, to address food insecurity.

Nutritional sciences professor Jennifer Taylor says, according to 2012 numbers, more than one in five children on P.E.I. live in households that can't afford enough healthy food, and that is the case even in families where the parents are working.

"It is really clear that it is wages that are the problem," said Taylor.

"Seventy nine per cent of food insecure families in P.E.I. are earning an income, yet they're reporting that they don't have enough food and they don't have the kinds of foods that they need for their children. And we know that's way, way higher than every other province in Canada, then I think we know that that's going to have to be one of the issues that's looked at."

Taylor said a liveable wage could be achieved by increasing the minimum wage and by reducing the income tax for low-income families. At $7,708, P.E.I. has the lowest provincial income tax exemption in the country.

In 2012, there were 9,200 food insecure homes on P.E.I. In three per cent of those, or close to 300, there was severe food insecurity where parents and/or children went without food for days.