The rising price of groceries is having an impact on more than just home food bills.

Deb Gerbrandt is the Kitchen Coordinator for the Meals On Wheels program in Steinbach. She says many seniors are on a fixed income and don't have more money to spend on meals. Yet

food prices continue to go up, especially for meat and vegetables.

"Because my grocery bills are going up, it's going to be considered that the price of the meals has to go up," says Gerbrandt. "And we really don't want that to happen."

The Steinbach Meals On Wheels program has between 30 and 40 clients, providing about 455 meals per month. A meal, which consists of a starch, meat, vegetable, soup and dessert costs the client $6. According to Gerbrandt, just for the food alone, it costs the program between $4.50 and $5.00 to make a single meal. That does not include what it costs to rent space and pay for things like hydro and janitorial services.

Gerbrandt says about 12 months ago, the price per client was $5.50. But, she notes back then the cost per meal to the program was between $4.00 and $4.50.

Gerbrandt says one of the foods that has seen the greatest price increase is cauliflower. Though seniors are still getting cauliflower in their meals, Gerbrandt says it is not being served as often anymore. Other creative ways to cut costs include buying in bulk and waiting until meat is on sale and then freezing it.