'Literally ravenous': 25% of Irish families fearful over food poverty

A survey of more than 1,100 people, the majority with children, had found that a quarter were worried about not being able to provide food for children in their care, rising to 34% for those not working.

For Nuala O'Connor, a chef at a Barnardos centre in Dublin, food poverty in a young child is sometimes less about what they look like, and more about what they do.

“Sometimes you just know by looking at them, that they are not getting what they need," she said. “Then we have had children over time [who are] literally ravenous, literally taking it with their hands, they can't get enough of it into their mouths and can't get it in quick enough.

Ms O'Connor was speaking yesterday at a webinar organised by Barnardos and Aldi on the subject of food poverty and its lifelong impact on families and vulnerable children. Having worked with the charity for 33 years, she said the current situation, with more families struggling to make ends meet, was a throwback to harder times decades ago.

“I think now it has now slowly started to go back to when I started all those years ago,“ she said. 

Times were hard then, times were tough, it was hard to keep meals on the table and food in the house. I think it's going that way now. I have noticed, and people not just myself, prices are slowly going up and up and up.

A survey of more than 1,100 people, the majority with children, had found that a quarter were worried about not being able to provide food for children in their care, rising to 34% for those not working.

It also found that 14% were concerned they were very close to food poverty, that a fifth were always or sometimes worried about not being able to provide their children with sufficient food, and that the same percentage had skipped meals themselves or reduced their own intake so there would be enough for their children. It also found 43% had cut down on spending in other areas so as to afford food.

“Parents with food worries are stressed, worried, guilty, frustrated and embarrassed about their circumstances,“ the webinar was told.

Gloomy outlook

Those attending also heard a gloomy outlook from Niall O'Connor, the group managing director of Aldi in Ireland and Britain, who said Ireland had not yet reached peak inflation and that food prices would likely rise further in the next six months.

Aoibheann O'Brien, co-founder and Partnerships Director at Foodcloud, said food poverty was part of a wider issue of food sustainability, with resilience to vulnerabilities and shocks and fair pay and conditions for providers.

Kerri Smith, Associate Director of Children's Services at Barnardos, said the issue of food poverty was very real. She said in the last two weeks of January some families came to the centre on a Wednesday, the day before social welfare payments, as they had no money left and had to decide between heat or light or buying food.

“That is the reality sometimes that we are living in,“ she said.

We don't often see children coming in really, really hungry but we do hear of parents telling is of children having cereal for their main meals.

She added that the hope was that in many cases, parents are doing such a good job of concealing food poverty that the children are unaware of it.