Thank you, Joyce, and thank you, members of the committee, for the opportunity to speak with you today.
In my work with CRFA, and as a parent striving to raise two healthy, active daughters, I follow the obesity issue with great interest. As legislators, you need to think deeply about the issue and make decisions based on facts, not opinions or guesswork. That's the only way to arrive at solutions that will truly make a difference for Canadians. As part of that process, l' d like to challenge some misperceptions about the restaurant industry, which I call the five myths about eating out in Canada.
The first myth is that Canadians are eating more and more meals from restaurants. In fact, the restaurant share of the household food dollar has remained relatively flat over the past 20 years. Adjusting for inflation, it has increased by just $3 a week since 1982, according to Statistics Canada data. Numerous independent consumer studies confirm that Canadians still very much lean toward preparing their meals at home, and 76% of our meals and 81% of our snacks are prepared at home.
The second myth is that quick-service restaurants are overtaking the food landscape. In fact, on a per capita basis the number of quick-service restaurants is just about the same as it was in 1983. Again, this is Statistics Canada data.
The third myth is that it's cheaper to buy a meal from a quick-service restaurant than to prepare a meal at home. Due to the relatively higher cost of eating out compared to buying food at grocery stores, spending in our industry is very much tied to disposable discretionary income. Low-income Canadians spend less of their food dollars at restaurants, including quick service, than high-income Canadians. Statistics Canada reports that low-income households in Canada, on average, spent just $3.99 per week at quick-service restaurants. It's not surprising when you see that in the past 20 years the cost of eating out has risen far more rapidly than the cost of buying food from grocery stores.
The fourth myth is that it's difficult to make healthy choices when eating out. Our industry responds quickly to consumer trends, and interest in health and nutrition has been one of the big ones in recent years. Just take a look at some of the fastest growing menu items within the past two years. Consumers are choosing sushi, salads, water, veggie burgers, and other healthier options more often. Traditional favourites such as french fries and sandwiches are losing ground. We're seeing similar trends in restaurant unit growth.
When we look at overall calorie consumption in Canada over the past 30 years, as gathered in the recent Canadian Community Health Survey, it would appear that the obesity issue is more complex that just energy intake.
The fifth myth is that people who eat at or live near quick-service restaurants are at increased risk of overweight obesity. Many studies have attempted to link quick-service restaurants with obesity, but they tend to find either no correlation or an inverse correlation, or they or fail to control for other lifestyle factors.
When Statistics Canada recently released new data on regional obesity rates, I was struck by the inverse correlation with household spending at restaurants. The provinces with higher average spending at restaurants report lower overall rates of overweight and obesity, a finding that holds true for both the adult and child populations.
Joyce.