In a land filled with an abundance of produce, most of it grown on our very doorsteps, few of us in Ireland give any thought to our food security.
What on earth is food security?....well according to the World Food Summit that took place in 1996.... 'food security at individual and national level is achieved when all people at all times have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life'...in other words, we are able to have continual access to a food supply.... we can buy what we want, where we want, it's fresh, nutritious and we can afford it!
Now that may sound pretty straight forward and easily achievable to the majority of people living in Ireland surrounded as we are by lush farmlands and a myriad of locally produced foods....or so you might think, but in the aftermath of the credit crunch things have taken a disturbing turn in this country and we are no longer as food secure as we might think!
So what does it mean to loose your food security? and what happens when you do?
The United States is a prime example of how bad things can actually get in a 'first world' society.
In the US the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme (shortened to 'SNAP') provides food assistance to approx 15% of all Americans, it may not sound like a large percentage but that is some 48 million people..... to put that into perspective it is more than ten times the population of Ireland who need to rely on the government for their ability to buy food.
But the sad reality of those figures is that due to the global 'downturn', food programmes over the last few years were subject to budgetary cuts so thousands more who face food poverty daily, no longer qualify for food aid....these are the working poor.....persons on minimum wage who also suffer under high rents usually more than 50% of their weekly income. The government says that if a 'poor' person has 30% of their total income remaining after all bills have been paid they do not qualify for food aid regardless of the number of people in the household.....that means you can forget about saving, buying new clothes or shoes when needed or replacing something if it breaks down unless you are prepared to be hungry!
The SNAP programme allows $28 per person per week for food... that's a little under 25 euros!
50% of the people who do 'benefit' from, (and I use that term loosely) food stamps or SNAP, are children. That means that approx 24 million children, probably even more, are deprived of healthy, nutritious food in what is one of the richest nations in the world.
At the last reckoning, in 2014, it was said that 82% of food credits were redeemed at superstores and supermarkets....so the question is...where were the other 18% used? and the answer to that may surprise you!
In the US, food stamps or SNAP credits are redeemable at fast food outlets.... are you shocked? well you should be! But why are the least well off in society spending the bulk if not all of their food budget 'eating out'?
There are a few factors at play here..... American cities are vast compared to the mini metropolis's we have in this country such as Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Sligo, Belfast and Derry.
When the recession that began in 2008 started to bite, many of these big US cities such as Detroit actually went bankrupt...can you believe it? a city that went bankrupt! That means no money for lighting the streets at night, no money to repair or clean the streets, no money for a fire service, policing, no money for all the government supplied services we love to moan about yet take for granted.
As large swathes of these cities began to degenerate and street after street of houses were repossessed and businesses went to the wall, the affluent who still had plenty of money, moved from the inner cities into the much nicer suburbs forming new communities. These cities are so big it could be a 40 minute drive from downtown to the suburbs.
As the rich abandoned the cities, the larger supermarkets where people would have bought their fresh produce weekly, followed suit and vacated the crumbling inner city areas leaving the poorest, who could not afford to move, behind to fend for themselves....the inner cities became 'food deserts'.
And what is a food desert?
An area or neighbourhood is said to be a food desert if there is no shop or supermarket that sells fresh produce within a mile of your home. In the place of the abandoning supermarkets, fast food joints, mini markets and corner shops moved in offering cheap but nutritionally deficient food.
So what do you do? If you are surviving on the poverty line which means you can't afford the bus let alone a taxi and there is no market selling fresh produce within a 30 minute drive never mind walking distance, you are left with little choice but to buy from the local diner, fried chicken or burger outlet or corner store which has lots of carb filled processed foods at really cheap prices but never any fresh fruit, salads, vegetables, meat or fish.... there is no possibility of deliveries either as suppliers refuse to deliver in these areas due to crime and the fact that they are just too far away from the affluent areas and off the beaten track! The result of this type of eating is too many calories from the wrong sources and not enough nutrition from those calories.
Into the food security equation we must also add the persons ability or knowledge of cooking even if they had access to fresh produce, whether or not they have the facilities to cook with, do they even have a place to store perishable foods....these are the reasons behind people opting for fast food outlets as many live in homes where there are either no cooking facilities, they cannot afford to purchase or replace broken items like a refrigerator or a cooker/oven or even a microwave, they may also be homeless and living on the streets or in shelters with no cooking allowed.
Food poverty has become such a crisis in the US that in the state of New York alone, 3000 food pantries, another name for food banks, and soup kitchens have appeared since 2011, 1300 of them in the city of New York itself with each charitable facility providing a hot meal and emergency food packages for up to 1000 clients every day.
We may be shocked by these statistics, and rightly so, it's hard to fathom so many people who are continually hungry in a country not suffering a famine, but what about this little old country we live in, that could never happen here, could it? Unfortunately that day could already be here!
In areas of Ireland today many smaller towns and villages have lost their local shops or the small family run local supermarket has closed meaning not only a loss of jobs in the local economy but a considerable drive to the nearest supermarket.
Surprisingly, where I live, it is 9 miles to a town that has a supermarket, that is unless we cross the border into northern Ireland and even then it is 4 miles....rather a long walk if you can't afford to take a bus or a taxi there and back without factoring in the sterling euro exchange rates and if BREXIT has it's way we may have to pay import taxes groceries!
As I live in a little border village, we have a few petrol stations with forecourt shops but still, they are not places you could do a weeks shopping in or even buy a cabbage! again just like in the US they are places filled with high carb, highly processed food items.....things you may have run out of at home like pasta, tomato sauce, milk, a loaf of white bread, or snack items to munch on the road such as crisps, sweets, doughnuts and mass produced sandwiches....items you certainly couldn't live on daily unless you are willing to harm your long term health.
But my little corner of the country is not the only place where these issues are arising. The further you travel from the large urban areas the more difficult it is to access healthy nutritious foods on a daily basis, even if you can afford them. I was shocked when I read in the local papers of 3 different food banks that have appeared within a 20 mile radius of where I live. They are continually seeking donations, and having worked closely with a local charity for a few years now, I was stunned last Christmas at the numbers of food boxes that had to be provided for people in need. This is not people taking advantage of a charitable system, these are people who would otherwise go without.
This is a side of life in Ireland that those with plenty and the politicians either can't or don't want to see and may not even believe exists. Those 'philanthropists' at the top of the affluent pile harp on about helping to aid developing countries like Africa while turning a blind eye to the hungry family five minutes away, but they need to realise something, helping countries to achieve their food security goals is all very commendable but if you want a workforce in your own country that is fit and capable of work, people who can contribute to building the economy in the long term, then we have to secure their most basic of needs and food is at the top of that list of needs.....you may not live in the flashiest home but if you have a warm meal in your belly and you know where the next one is coming from you can conquer the world!
If you cannot eat well you cannot function properly and you are no good to yourself never mind anyone else and down the line you will be a number in an already over burdened public health system. The powers that be preach that children cannot function at school if they haven't had breakfast in the morning, well the same applies to those whom the government wish to move off the unemployment register, if you have been undernourished for a long period of time it is that much harder to keep yourself motivated and feel active and positive.
Food security is an issue very close to my heart and as a single parent I myself experienced the stress and worry that comes from staring at almost empty cupboards wondering about the next meal to feed your children. I still see it happening around me and though I am one of the lucky ones in that I had skills to see me through the darkest of times, for thousands out there they have no skills and no choice!
Our government must take it upon themselves to help ensure the survival of the smaller supermarket providing fresh food locally, these small stores are the heart of our communities. Farmers markets should be encouraged and given support to operate in every community, you never know what is growing near by and buying straight from the farmer tends to be cheaper and you are helping them to sustain there livelihood.
We must not allow these foreign 'interlopers', no matter how much we love them, to literally corner the market and greedily hoard the best of our Irish produce for their stores which happen to only be in towns with a population over a certain level. As for the levels of food wastage and the poor prices farmers receive because these stores have a monopoly? well that's a lecture for another day.
Have you a food security issue or would you like any advice on making your groceries work harder for you then drop me a line. Leave a comment below or follow me on facebook, twitter or bloglovin.
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