The Citizen, 2009-12-17, Page 7One week of healthy groceries for a
family of four in Huron County costs
$175.26. That’s according to this
year’s Nutritious Food Basket survey.
The Huron County Health Unit
conducts the survey every year. Six
grocery stores located throughout
Huron County take part. The survey
includes 67 food items from Canada’s
Food Guide and is based on nutrition
recommendations and the average
eating patterns of Canadians.
Over the past decade, food costs in
Huron County have increased over 20
per cent and income levels haven’t
kept up. Public health dietitian Amy
MacDonald says people living on low
income levels can’t afford to purchase
healthy foods so they tend to purchase
less expensive filling foods that are
often processed and prepared.
“Those foods tend to be higher in
calories, fat, sugar and sodium. How
can we expect someone living on a
low income to eat healthy, prevent
chronic disease like diabetes, heart
disease, stroke, cancer, if they don’t
have enough money to buy healthy
foods?”
Five per cent is added to the weekly
total to cover items used in daily meal
preparation. Items like “junk” food,
paper products, baby food, personal
hygiene or cleaning products are not
included in the survey. Since these
items are not included in the survey, it
is likely that the weekly grocery bill is
actually higher.
Community agencies can use the
results to determine if current
minimum wage and social assistance
rates can cover basic needs, like a
healthy diet.
The Huron County Health Unit has
programs to help offset the cost of
eating healthy. One of these programs
is the Good Food Box. Boxes of local
produce are available for everyone in
the County, regardless of income
level, to purchase once a month
through the Health Unit and at sites
around the county.
To learn more about the Nutritious
Food Basket or the Good Food Box,
contact the Huron County Health Unit
at 1-877-837-6143.
THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2009. PAGE 7.In the midst of tackling a thirdmajor school consolidation proposalin three consecutive years, trustees of
the Avon Maitland District School
Board opted for continuity in
leadership for 2010.
At the board’s annual “inaugural
meeting” on Tuesday, Dec. 8, the
2009 chair and vice-chair were
returned to their posts uncontested.
North Perth representative Jenny
Versteeg was acclaimed for a second
consecutive one-year term as chair.
Fellow trustees Doug Pratley of
Stratford and Randy Wagler of South
Huron were both nominated but
declined to allow their names tostand.Pratley was then acclaimed for asecond straight year as vice-chair,again after Wagler turned down anomination.
“There is so much leadership
ability in this room that I know the
only reason I can be chair is that you
let me,” Versteeg said after accepting
the position. “Apparently, we’ve been
given another chance to get things
right.”
For 2010, “getting things right” for
the board amounts, in large part, to
carrying out two wide-reaching
accommodation review processes.
Board-mandated, community-based
Accommodation Review Committees
are currently assessing proposals forschool consolidation in South Huronand North Perth/northeast Huron. It’s expected trustees will vote inJune on what will most likely berecommendations to close two or
more elementary schools, and
relocate some Grades 7 and 8
students into secondary school
environments.
This falls on the heels of school
consolidations in 2008 in St. Marys
and Goderich and 2009 in Northwest
Huron.
“We started this (four-year) term
with 44 elementary schools and it
looks like we might end up with 41.
That’s an odd measurement of
progress,” she admitted to trustees.
But, speaking with reporters afterthe Dec. 8 meeting, Versteeg stressedthe board is not focused solely onconsolidating schools. Theaccommodation review proposals,she said, flow from the larger
challenges facing school boards
across the province.
“We’re going to be dealing with the
effects of declining enrolment, as we
have been for several years, and
we’re going to be dealing with the
tightening of budgets by the
provincial government,” she said,
when asked what challenges the
board will face over the coming year.
Addressing the accommodation
reviews, she added, “it’s a big thing
when you change a community. But
these changes are in response to otherchanges in the community … Youhave to be able to adapt for the future.That word ‘sustainability’ is a prettybig thing, but we’ve got to bethinking about it.”
The year 2010 marks the final year
of this group of nine trustees’ terms.
The municipal election in the fall of
2010 will provide the opportunity for
them to be challenged in an election,
or step down and let someone else
represent their ward.
Versteeg notes this puts pressure on
this group of trustees if they want to
see certain goals accomplished.
“It’s going to be a skidding stop,
that’s for sure, with the work we have
to do,” she said.
Versteeg back as Avon Maitland DSB chair
Although the potential of two
possible rounds of school
consolidation in 2010 probably
weighs heavily on trustees of the
Avon Maitland District School
Board, there was no direct discussion,
at a regular meeting Tuesday, Dec. 8,
of the accommodation review
proposals in either North
Perth/northeast Huron or South
Huron.
But, particularly in the case of the
potential closure of Hensall Public
School, the issue was difficult to
ignore.
Seated in the audience at the
meeting – which, on most evenings,
is empty except for two or three
reporters and perhaps a teachers’
union representative – were about 10
people wearing messages in support
of the school.
“Not tonight,” responded Mary
Lynn MacDonald, when asked if the
group would speak to trustees at the
Dec. 8 meeting. “We’re here to listen
and learn.”
Board-mandated Accommo-dation
Review Committees (ARCs) are
currently in the process of gathering
public input into proposals for school
consolidation in the two areas.
One proposal is to close Hensall
Public School, along with Usborne
Central Public School, and shift the
students into Zurich Public School,
Exeter Public School (EPS) and (for
the Grades 7 and 8s) South Huron
District High School (SHDHS).
A group called Friends of Hensall
Public School has already overseen
the placement of about 200
supportive signs throughout the
village, and a newsletter has been
distributed.
“I think the group makes a strong
case for an alternative proposal,”
explained MacDonald.
“Considering EPS and SHDHS
have the highest maintenance and
repair costs and also EPS is the oldest
of all the school buildings, the group
suggested that EPS should be moved
into SHDHS,” stated the proposal,
which is included in the Friends of
Hensall Public School newsletter.
The intent is to create a K-12
school in Exeter, with the Hensall
group noting “this would improve the
facilities for EPS by allowing a
renovated playground area so recess
doesn’t have to occur in shifts, ample
parking for staff and students, (and)
ample space for safe bus loading and
unloading.”
The next meeting of the South
Huron ARC was scheduled for last
week, but was postponed due to
weather. It’s expected that a final
recommendation from Avon Maitland
staff will be released in March, with
trustees voting in June.
Hensall parents attend meeting to listen and learn
The Holiday Season is a time for family and
friends to gather and celebrate the joy this season
has to give. At Clinton Public Hospital, St Marys
Memorial Hospital, Seaforth Community Hospital
and Stratford General Hospital, we believe in the
importance of family, the pursuit of good health
and working together to provide the best we can
for our communities.
The Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance, Alliance
Board and Local Advisory Committees,
Physicians, Staff, Volunteers, Auxiliaries and the
Foundations wish you a happy and healthy
Holiday Season.
At this time of year, Emergency Departments can
be busy. As always, patients will be seen in order
of urgency. YOUR PATIENCE IS
APPRECIATED DURING THIS BUSY
HOLIDAY SEASON.
VISITORS: If you have a fever, cough or
diarrhea — please, consider the patient — and
do not visit.
“Thank you for caring for us, as we care for you”
Clinton Public Hospital
St. Marys Memorial Hospital
Seaforth Community Hospital
Stratford General Hospital WE WISH YOU WELL!
HURON PERTH HEALTHCARE ALLIANCE
A Sincere Thank You for your
generous support this past year.
Merry Christmas &
A Happy New Year
From your Board of Directors
Debbie Gammie - Chairperson
Gord Baxter, Mary Lou Cameron,
Earl Dolmage, Andy McBride,
Stuart Reavie and Russ Taylor.
Wingham & District
Hospital Foundation
By Stew SlaterSpecial to The Citizen
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
Eating well difficult for some