….delegates are writing on the table cloths provided…..
List as many of the current drivers of emergency food aid that you can. What could cause Food Poverty?
The group on my table started by looking at 2 areas local and global:
Locally
Price
Energy Costs
Jobs / Economy
Poverty
Accessibility –
Marriage Break ups
Housing Costs
Nationally / Globally
Futures and commodity pricing
Globally – it could also be drought
Natural Disasters
Policies – Bedroom Tax
North/South divide
Conversation
The world is a shrinking place that local and national / global are interchangeable we are all affected by issues at both levels regardless of location.
Is there a difference to the drivers on short term and long term poverty? i.e. putting at extra £5 in a birthday card causes a short term crisis – but not being able to afford to eat every month because your unemployed is a long term crisis.
But short term or immediate crisis such as national disaster can create a long term problem. We need to plan for each differently.
And now look at what might be the future drivers be.
Lack of space, Bigger population – less space to grow
Policies – Bedroom Tax
Pricing
Food Quality – poor nutrition.
PROFITS
To improving food poverty one drover should be health
Conversation
“If we were to change our perspective on food there would be plenty to go around” – Currently supply is not the issue – we have enough food it is just not getting to where is needs to be, Why?
Our concept of food has changed. Our parents and grandparents think of food as a joint, meat and two veg – our generation look at food in plastic boxes, ready meals, snacking. microwave meals.
Moms don’t stay at home and cook like they did. More working parents change the way we eat our meals.
Education is needed – should schools be growing their own food? Food became about entertainment – social – not nutrition.
If Food Poverty is an observable manifestation of poverty, if inequality is getting worse does that mean we’re just heading for more food banks in the future?
Where does decision making happen?
The decisions are made at in individual level – it’s about you and I making different choices – It’s about consumer greed in part.
But is also about food supply and how it is distributed and produced – but if we change the way our food chain works we could be impacting our farmers ability to trade globally.