Call for affordable food
The Healthy Food for All (HFfA) initiative said inadequate social welfare levels meant some families could not buy healthy food.
Its project co-ordinator, Sinead Keenan, said food poverty had become a real problem and was compounded by inappropriate planning which made it difficult for people to travel to suitable grocery stores.
“Despite increased affluence and being a food-producing nation, low-income families face difficulties every day of their lives in accessing a healthy diet.
“Between 10% and 30% of the low-income population experience food poverty, such as regularly going without a substantial meal, not being able to afford meals with meat, chicken or fish or not being able to have family or friends around for a meal,” she said.
The HFfA called for a number of measures to be introduced in the upcoming budget to improve the situation for welfare recipients, especially given Ireland’s food prices are already the highest in Europe.
It wants Finance Minister Brian Cowen to raise standard welfare payments by €20 a week with an additional increase of up to €8 in the children’s allowance.
The HFfA also wants supports for community food initiatives to improve access in geographically isolated areas or those with limited public transport.
Ms Keenan said the Government had to face up to research which shows people with the worst diets suffered most in terms of social disadvantage and education. She said it would be a positive start to introduce a universal healthy food programme in schools to ensure each pupil had at least one piece of fresh fruit everyday.
“There is a clear link between indicators of inferior diet and nutrition and low-income, as people below 60% of median income are four times more likely to experience food poverty than those better-off,” she said.
“Consuming and sharing food is problematic for those on low incomes and living in areas with poor service provision and inadequate shopping facilities.
“Furthermore, there are clear links between income status and quality of diet in Ireland, with people in lower-income domiciles eating less fruit and vegetables, more processed foods and more saturated fats, which contribute to the growing trend of obesity.”
Ms Keenan was speaking at St Brigid’s Food Centre in Dublin which provides 200 meals on wheels every week and up to 100 sit-down dinners for local people.
The HFfA was set up by Crosscare, the Combat Poverty Agency and St Vincent de Paul in response to the 2004 report on food poverty and policy.
