‘There’s significant impact’: rising food prices weighing on seniors

WELLINGTON COUNTY – Alice and Joe Liebold of Harriston get by on old age income support and odd jobs 77-year-old Joe can take on.

“We don’t get the best of everything all the time,” said Alice, 72.

Like many other seniors across Wellington County living on fixed incomes, the Liebolds are responding to rising food costs by shopping cautiously and dining out less.

“You have to watch your prices and get things on sale,” Alice said.

Food prices have increased 22 per cent since 2022, according to the Bank of Canada, a rate outpacing inflation (about 13%). In November, food prices were up nearly 5% year-over-year, as per Statistics Canada, the largest increase since December 2023.

The trend is expected to continue into this year as well. Canada’s Food Price Report, an annual publication led by Dalhousie University, predicts overall food prices will rise 4 to 6% this year.

Older adults are responding by shopping more cautiously, changing their diets and, in some cases, turning to food banks.

Kathy Coulson, a former nurse living on a hospital pension and investment returns, isn’t feeling the pressure like some.

Even so, the 78-year-old Elora resident said, “I’m on a fixed income … prices are certainly climbing, and I’m careful.”

Coulson avoids cauliflower, deserts and pizza. She has cut back on coffee, and only buys butter on sale.

“It’s scary when I think of what I used to pay,” she said.

Lucy Ladham-Dyment of Fergus spent her working years in customer service jobs; she worked as a bookkeeper, at a coffee shop, a bank, an antique store and in grocery stores.

The 70-year-old receives income from Old Age Security and the Canadian Pension Plan, but she said that doesn’t cover food and rent combined.

If it wasn’t for her late husband’s pension from government work, Ladham-Dyment said she would have to turn to the food bank.

“I just try and buy [items on sale],” she said.

She opts for ground beef instead of a roast, buys fish on sale and freezes it, and is supplementing meat protein with nuts and beans.

Food often 'cut back first'

As food costs continue rising, Ladham-Dyment said she’ll spend more time worrying about affording rent and unforeseen medical costs.

If she needs to, she said she’ll make cuts, such as switching out a high-quality bread for a cheap, processed white bread – or skip out on certain foods entirely.

Despite spending their lives working and contributing to society, some of the county’s 43,000 seniors are left struggling to afford basic expenses, said Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health nutritionist Lisa Needham.

The local health unit’s 2025 Nutritious Food Basket analysis, exploring what it costs to eat nutritious food in the health region, suggests a 72-year-old woman renting a bachelor apartment, and receiving Old Age Security and a Guaranteed Income Supplement, would spend 75% of her income on food and housing, with just $500 left over for everything else.

Needham, who worked on the analysis, said there’s a widening gap between guaranteed income supports for seniors and the cost of living. That’s putting seniors at increased risk of food insecurity with some potentially “big implications,” Needham added.

“We know that when other expenses become priorities food is the one that gets cut back first,” she said.

When a 65-year-old Palmerston woman began receiving Old Age Security and a Guaranteed Income Supplement last year, she turned to the local food bank to feed herself.

The Advertiser isn’t naming the woman because of the stigma associated with accessing food banks.

According to the woman, she receives $1,900 monthly, of which $1,261 goes to rent.

“And then I have other bills to pay, that’s why I’m using the food bank, I have no money to buy food,” the woman said.

Rent eats up too much of her income, the woman said, and local grocery store prices are unaffordable for her.

She worked as a bartender and waitress for 30 years, and drove a taxi for another 15. She was also a care provider to her disabled son for 25 years, the last eight of which he required around-the-clock care.

The local food bank provides a dozen eggs, a loaf of bread, a block of cheese, stuffed chicken, two pounds of hamburger, potatoes, a couple onions, and sometimes peppers and grapes. She can also pick up some additional items: powdered drink mix, coffee or perhaps a creamer and orange juice.

To get by between monthly pickups at the food bank, the woman said she eats bread slices from a loaf in the freezer.

“I eat a lot of toast,” she said.

“It’s heartbreaking,” she said, apologizing for tears she tried to hold back. “I never thought I’d be in this position.”

More seniors using food banks

Feed Ontario’s 2025 Hunger Report suggests there were twice as many seniors accessing food banks last year compared to 2020 because fixed incomes can’t keep up with living costs.

Adults aged 65 and older accounted for 8.3% of overall food bank users across the country in 2025, up from 6.8% in 2019, according to Food Banks Canada.

(That organization’s 2025 “Hunger Count” reported food bank use among all age groups has reached historic highs, with 2.16 million total visits recorded across the country in March.)

Most food banks across Wellington County have told the Advertiser they have seen an increase in the number of seniors seeking help in recent years.

The combination of low income and rising food costs has Needham, the public health nutritionist, concerned.

“When seniors have to cut back on their expenses and food’s one of them, then often they are going to choose cheaper foods, they’re going to skip meals, or they’re going to eat less,” she said.

That could mean higher rates of heart disease, diabetes, nutrition-related chronic diseases, and increased risk for nutrient deficiencies.

Left unchecked, Needham said there’s risk of malnutrition, frailty and falls, and more hospital visits.

Those experiencing food insecurity also tend not to live as long as those who don’t, she said.

“There’s significant impact … and it is something we need to be very concerned about,” Needham added.

Heather Keller, an ageing and nutrition researcher at the University of Waterloo and a former University of Guelph professor, said older adults may be exchanging more expensive and nutritious foods for cheaper, less nutritional foods.

“I think there’s a shift towards more ultra-processed things because they’re easier to make ... they’re also sometimes cheaper, but they’re not necessarily very nutritious and they fill people up,” Keller said.

Consuming less nutritious food risks spiralling into worsening disease, more reliance on the healthcare system, and a loss of independence, Keller said.

Older adults in particular have higher requirements for protein, and often don’t get enough fibre, calcium and Vitamin D, according to Keller.

“Nutrition is really important to keeping well and keeping independent,” she said.

Needham said there’s a need for emergency food providers, for information and data sharing to inform policy and for strengthening community supports to reduce the impact on seniors here.

“With food insecurity, it really is a spectrum of how we have to respond to the issues,” Needham said.