Healthy Food For All Initiative
The Healthy Food for All Initiative is a response to the growing awareness
of food poverty as a structural constraint on food consumption and dietary
intake among low-income groups, and its multi-faceted consequences for
health, education and social participation, as outlined in the research
report Food Poverty and Policy, published by Combat Poverty, Crosscare
and Society of St Vincent de Paul in 2004.
Combat Poverty, Crosscare (Catholic Social Care Agency of the Dublin
Diocese) and the Society of St Vincent de Paul initiated the Healthy Food
for All Initiative to strengthen the response to food poverty at policy
and implementation levels. Other funders of the initiative include Safe
Food, the Food Safety Authority and the Department of Social and Family
Affairs. There is an advisory committee for the initiative which includes
a wide range of stakeholders from the public, private and community/voluntary
sectors.
The initiative now has its own website at www.healthyfoodforall.com.
Purpose of the Initiative
The purpose of Healthy Food For All is threefold:
- To support local initiatives which promote availability and access
to healthy and affordable food for low-income groups, with a focus on
community food initiatives and direct food provision, including school
meals
- To develop an all-Ireland learning network to identify best practice
on promoting healthy food for low-income groups and to develop links
with similar organisations in the UK and Europe
- To promote awareness of food poverty across all aspects of public
policy, with a focus on food affordability, access and availability.
Further information on the Healthy Food For All Initiative is available
in the HFFAI Funding Proposal.
Food Poverty
Food poverty can de defined as the inability to access a nutritionally
adequate diet and the related impacts on health, culture and social participation.
Food poverty is not just about the consumption of too little food to
meet basic nutritional requirements. It includes social and cultural contexts
where people cannot eat, shop for, provide or exchange food in the manner
that is the acceptable norm in society.
Living in poverty and social disadvantage imposes constraints on food
consumption in three main ways.
- First, it affects food affordability through the choice and quantity
of food than can be bought and the share of the household budget that
is allocated to food
- Second, it impacts on access to food through the retail options available
and the capacity to shop in terms of transport and physical ability.
The availability of storage and cooking facilities is a further constraint
on what foods can be accessed
- Third, psychosocial factors determine food choice among socially disadvantaged
groups. Personal skills and knowledge, social pressure and cultural
norms interact with structural and economic constraints to produce a
complex constellation of factors contributing to food poverty
Further information on the extent of food poverty in Ireland and existing
policy responses is contained in the research report Food Poverty
and Policy,
published in 2004 by Combat Poverty, Crosscare and Society of St Vincent
de Paul. The report identifies three main policy dimensions to food poverty,
each of which is discussed below:
- Food, nutrition and health
- Food affordability and welfare adequacy
- Food availability and access
Food, Nutrition and Health
Inadequate food and nutrition intake can be a contributory factor to
ill-health. This connection between food, nutrition and health was debated
at a Combat Poverty conference in November 20042.
Food poverty can also be a contributory factor in the increased incidence
of obesity, as is outlined in the report of the National Taskforce on
Obesity3.
Under the National Health Promotion Strategy4,
the promotion of healthy eating among low-income groups is a strong focus
as part of the expanded community dietitian service. The service has developed
healthy eating programmes such as Healthy Food Made Easy and
Eat Well, Be Well and Cook It, which target low-income
households. In addition, national healthy eating promotions have included
specific issues for low-income groups.
More broadly, a national food and nutrition policy is required which
has as its main objective equal access to food for all members in society.
The Department of Health and Children is finalising a national food and
nutrition policy, which has food poverty as one of its themes. Implementation
of this policy should be embedded across all government departments, in
particular those responsible for food production, retailing planning and
consumer affairs.
Food Affordability and Welfare Adequacy
The adequacy of household income to provide for a healthy diet and the
other components of an acceptable lifestyle is a core concern. This issue
is central to the National Anti-Poverty Strategy5,
which seeks to ensure that income levels (welfare and wages) are adequate
for people to live in a manner compatible with human dignity. Recent independent
research6
has shown that up to 80 percent of welfare payments would be required
to provide a healthy diet.
The Department of Social and Family Affairs has published a review7
of the dietary supplement, which is a special payment under the Supplementary
Welfare Allowance Scheme. The report examins the cost of healthy eating
and specialised diets for a single individual.
Direct provision of food for vulnerable groups such as homeless people,
older people, children at risk and asylum seekers by social service organizations
is an important component of healthy eating. This issue was central to
the government review of the school meals programme in 20038.
This led to the establishment of the School Food Programme, which provides
an enhanced level of food for school-age children, including breakfasts,
hot lunches and afternoon snacks. To support this, the Health Promotion
Unit has published guidelines on food and nutrition for primary schools9.
Food Availability and Access
Choice of food is also influenced by what food is available for purchase.
Many low income households have restricted access to shopping outlets,
often ending up in places where the prices are higher and the selection
of food less healthy. The New Policy Institute has summarized recent UK
research on barriers to food access, including lack of transport and limited
range of retail outlets10.
The issue of food access arose in the recent debate on the abolition
of the Groceries Order. Combat Poverty, Crosscare and the Society of St
Vincent de Paul made a submission on this topic, highlighting the potentially
negative impact of the abolition of the order on access to food for low-income
consumers11.
One way to ensure better access to food is to establish community food
projects, such as food cooperatives and community gardens. The development
of pilot projects for low-income families to provide sufficient food to
meet their requirements was recommended in the Cardiovascular Health Strategy
(1999)12, building on
an earlier report by the Nutritional Advisory Group.
In line with this, the Health Promotion Department of the HSE North West
Area ran a community food project aimed at improving the health and well
being of local people. The project was a response to evidence that those
on a limited income have less access to fresh fruit and vegetables13.
In Tallaght and Limerick, local groups are establishing community food
projects to promote better access to food in disadvantaged areas. In Northern
Ireland, the Armagh and Dungannon Health Action Zone has established a
pilot project entitled Decent Food For All14,
aimed at addressing the barriers to good food (information, physical and
financial).
Food producers have a social responsibility that good quality food is
available by all sections in society and that any surplus food is disposed
of in a responsible manner. This is where food banks can play a role.
Ireland has two food banks, one in Dublin Crosscare and another in the
process of being established in Limerick by the PAUL Partnership.
A Policy Framework for Tackling Food Poverty
There is a need for national policy framework to address food poverty.
Such a framework should be developed under the National Action Plan Against
Poverty and Social Exclusion15.
The Consultation Report16
on the new National Action Plan for the period 2006-2008 contains a number
of proposals on tackling food poverty.
It is also suggested that food poverty be made a priority under the new
social partnership agreement17,
with a key role for the private sector.
References and further information
-
Food Poverty and Policy (Combat Poverty
Agency, Crosscare & Society of St Vincent de Paul: 2004) 
-
Nutrition Poverty and Health:
report of a Combat Poverty Agency National Conference, November 2004
-
Report of the National Task Force on
Obesity (Department of Health & Children: 2004)
-
Health Promotion Strategy (Department of Health
& Children: 2000)
-
National Anti-Poverty Strategy (Department of
Social & Family Affairs: 2002)
-
The Financial Cost of Healthy
Eating in Ireland: Combat Poverty Agency Research Working Paper 04/01
(Sharon Friel, Orla Walsh & Denise McCarthy: Combat Poverty Agency:
2004)
-
Examination of the cost of healthy eating
and specialised diets for a single individual in Ireland (Department
of Social & Family Affairs: 2006)
-
Review of Urban & Gaeltacht School
Meals Meals Schemes (Department of Social & Family Affairs: 2002)
-
Food and Nutrition Guidelines for
Primary Schools (Department of Health, Health Promotion Unit: 2005)
-
Food Access: whose responsibility? (New Policy
Institute: 2000)
-
Submission on the Groceries Order
(Combat Poverty Agency, Crosscare & Society of St Vincent de Paul:
2005)
-
Cardiovascular
Health Strategy (Department of Health & Children - various
documents)
-
Growing in Confidence: evaluation of the Community
Food Project (Perry Share & Geraldine Duignan: IT Sligo: 2004)
-
Armagh and Dungannon
Health Action Zone
-
Submission on the Irish National Action Plan
Against Poverty and Social Exclusion 2006-2008 (Combat Poverty Agency,
Crosscare & Society of St Vincent de Paul: 2005)
-
Consultation Report on the National
Action Plan Against Poverty and Social Exclusion (Department of Social
& Family Affairs: 2006)
-
Submission on a new Social Partnership Agreement
(Combat Poverty Agency, Crosscare & Society of St Vincent de Paul:
2005)
Other documentation in relation to food poverty in Ireland includes:
Hungry for Change: social exclusion, food poverty and homelessness
in Dublin (Focus Ireland: 2004) available from Focus
Ireland
HSE (North-West Region) and NUI Galway study on food, poverty and nutrition
among asylum seekers in the north west (forthcoming as Combat Poverty
Research Working Paper)
Other sources of information:
Crosscare
Food Safety Authority of Ireland
Health Promotion Unit
Office for Social Inclusion
(DSFA)
SafeFood
Society of St Vincent de Paul
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