The Department of Mental Health and Community Wellness develops policy and provides funding to organizations to promote healthy eating and improve access to nutritious foods.
Initiatives to promote healthy eating and improve access to nutritious foods include:
The goal of AFFIRM is to help make food more affordable in northern Manitoba communities. Especially foods such as milk, fresh vegetables and fruit.
This program reduces the price of milk, fresh vegetables and fresh fruits through a subsidy. The subsidy is provided to participating stores. Each store is required to pass on the full subsidy to the customer by reducing the sale price of milk, fresh vegetables and fresh fruit.
The program is monitored to ensure the subsidy is passed on to the customer.
Any store that sells milk, fresh vegetables or fresh fruits in eligible communities can apply to participate.
Healthy foods are often very expensive in northern Manitoba. This is due to factors such as limited road access, transportation costs, fewer stores, and fresh food spoilage. To help make fresh foods more affordable the government worked with leaders in several communities with the highest food prices. For more information visit: Northern Healthy Foods Initiative
Participating communities are Northern Manitoba communities that are not directly serviced by an all-weather road and do not receive the full subsidy through the federal Nutrition North Canada program. Eligible communities where the AFFIRM Program has been established include Churchill and Pukatawagan.
The AFFIRM Subsidy applies to the eligible foods listed in the table below. Eligible retailers are not required to stock every eligible food listed below.
Eligible Food Category | Eligible Food Description | Additional Details |
---|---|---|
Fluid Milk and Fortified Soy Beverage | Fresh milk (whole, 2%, 1%, skim, buttermilk) | Includes all types of fresh cow's milk and other animal milk (e.g., goat milk). |
Fresh flavoured milk | Includes eggnog and all varieties of fresh flavoured milk (e.g., chocolate, strawberry) | |
Fortified soy beverage | Does not include rice or almond beverages | |
Fresh Vegetables | Fresh vegetables | Does not include pumpkins |
Fresh Fruits | All fresh fruit | Not applicable |
To speak directly to a registered dietitian about nutrition and healthy eating, please visit Dial-A-Dietitian.
To find nutrition programs and dietitian services in your area, please visit your Regional Healthy Authority's webpage.
For information about breakfast, lunch and snack programs and school nutrition guidelines, please visit Manitoba Healthy Food in Schools.
To learn tips for healthy eating and how to create a balanced meal, please visit Canada's Food Guide and Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide - First Nations, Inuit and Métis.