Guide shows domestic food bills at all-time low

IRISH householders are spending less on food than ever before, it was revealed yesterday.

A consumer information guide on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), compiled by Agri Aware, shows that food inflation has consistently remained below the annual rate of inflation. Food items such as steak and butter would be 80% more expensive if food prices kept apace with annual inflation since 1973.

The guide — announced as thousands prepare to travel to Annaharvey, Tullamore, for the three-day National Ploughing Championships — reveal Irish and British households have the joint lowest expenditure on food in Europe.

Data, sourced from the Central Statistics Office and Eurostat, reveals that Irish and British households have the joint-lowest expenditure on food in Europe.

One of the main findings was Irish household expenditure on food fell from a high of more than 30% in 1973 to 7.9% in 2005.

Consumers earning the average industrial wage need to work six hours less than in 1973 to purchase the staple food items surveyed in the guide.

The main message is the CAP benefits all by a clean environment, food security, employment creation and tourism development.

Agri Aware’s two-week CAP information campaign will include a local food focus road show with award-winning chef Neven Maguire at the ploughing championships.

Some 20,000 copies of its consumer guide will be distributed to public and consumer related organisations nationally.

Agri Aware chairman Mairead Lavery said Irish consumers have benefited from the CAP as it guarantees a sufficient supply of safe, high quality food.

Given the current trends in world food production, it has never been more important to have a vibrant, indigenous food sector.

“It has also greatly assisted the reform of Irish farming structures, preserved the rural landscape and maintained economic activity in our rural towns,” she said.