Hunger alleviation, tackling food poverty or
challenging the determinants of poverty:
What can Public Health do?
Tony Cooke
Head of Health Improvement
Kirklees Public Health
Food poverty is…
“the inability to afford or to have access to food to
make up a healthy diet”
(Department of Health)
“Food poverty is worse diet, worse access, worse
health, higher percentage of income on food, and less
choice from a restricted range of foods.”
(Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy at City University,
London)
Less opportunity for physical
activity and large number of
takeaways in deprived areas .
Lack of cooking skills
& confidence
Shift work and
irregular hours
Low income and less
healthy eating
behaviours
Lack of exposure
to sunlight = Vit D
deficiency
Lack of
cooking
utensils
Access to
affordable
healthy food
Irregular
meal times
Psycho-social
stress and
stigma
Lack of
cooking in
the home.
Families
rarely sit
down
together to
eat a meal
Lower
consumption of
fruit and veg and
a higher intake
of fats, sugars +
salt. Problems
with overweight
and
underweight
Food budget will often be
reduced before other
household outgoings
Space for
preparing and
eating as a family
Food poverty and diet of
people on low incomes
Food behaviour linked to other
health behaviours: physical activity
,alcohol, smoking
Increased numbers accessing food banks
Increased under nutrition
Increase in numbers overweight and obese
Perfect storm
• Population wide people are eating less
nutritious food
• Starker inequalities in income, stark
inequalities in diets and food skills
• In Kirklees lower income groups less
confident at cooking from scratch
• ‘Bad’ food can cost less per calorie
20,840
21%
42,800
Child Poverty
16%
22,040
Working age Poverty
33%
Poverty in Kirklees
Pensioner Poverty
Cost of living increases
2008 - 2012
18%
Food
Annual benefits uprating
2008 - 2012
27%
25%
Energy
Minimum
Income basket
Annual benefits uprating
2013 onwards
2.2%
2.2%
Universal
uprating
Disabled
people and
pensioners
uprating
1%
Work
related
benefits
uprating
The biggest losers
£bn
Some households and individuals,
notably sickness and disability
claimants, will be hit by several
different elements of the reforms.
£5.0
£4.5
£4.0
£3.5
£3.0
£2.5
£2.0
£1.5
£1.0
£0.5
£0.0
Incapacity Benefits
Tax Credits
1% up-rating of
most working-age
benefits
average loss per
affected
household/individual
average loss per
affected
household/individual
£3,480
£810
Housing Benefit
reforms
Discussions in Kirklees…
All people in poverty are at risk of food poverty but
individual circumstances are different
• Some people are more resilient
• Some have stronger communities/social capital
• Some grow their own food or have an allotment
Benefit sanctions are an exception
• Most people on benefits do not attend food
banks but most people sanctioned do
• Increasing numbers are sanctioned
The Kirklees response:
Proportionate universalism
Narrative for change: the food charter and strategy
A population level approach where possible
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Food for Life Partnership in schools to improve quality and uptake of meals
Silver catering award provider supplies food to all but one Kirklees school
Projects to increase food growing across Kirklees
National Child Measurement Programme
Healthy Choice Award targets take-aways and restaurants
Recycling and food waste projects
Better procurement promotes more local jobs
Targeted services where necessary
•
•
•
40 growing sites in areas of multiple deprivation, focus on social housing, disabilities,
LTCs
Settings based approach to target hospitals, early years and care settings, using FFLP
and development of similar standards to support sustainable food
Food banks+ i.e. skills training, cook and eat sessions and (planned) growing sites
Questions for consideration
• Do we need to make a clear distinction between hunger, food poverty and
poverty?
• Should we focus on alleviation of hunger, improvements to diet/nutrition
or both?
• How to engage with public health teams to address food poverty?
• How can public health engage other partners to address food poverty?
• What are the consequences of food poverty?
• Which areas can public health address? Focus on low / medium input,
high impact
• Can local authorities develop systematic strategies to address health
inequalities including food poverty and poverty more generally
• How can they join wider lobbying efforts around poverty and its impact
• What action can you commit to taking forward when you get back to your
City/town?
What’s happened is
that the level of income
inequality has been
increasing. And by that
we mean that the very
rich have been getting
more and more money,
and people lower down,
have been getting less.
Michael Marmot, 2013