Household food insecurity is an extensive problem in North America, affecting 8% of Canadian households in 2007/08. The key predictors of household food insecurity are low income and reliance on government assistance.  Numerous calls for responses to food insecurity have drawn attention to housing affordability as an important factor. Housing is considered to be affordable if 30% or less of gross household income is spent on shelter and utilities.   Low-income households spending more than 30% of household income on housing are left with little income to spend on other life necessities such as food, clothing and transportation. Current discussions about housing affordability often do not focus on the amount of after-shelter household income, which can have a profound impact on the health of a household’s members.

Housing Circumstances are Associated with Household Food Access among Low-Income Urban Families was published in the Journal of Urban Health, Volume 88, Issue 2 in 2010.