Welsh Food Poverty Network
The Welsh Food Poverty Network has been set up to invite interested parties to engage in the Food Poverty agenda in Wales and learn about the activities of the Food Poverty Alliance Wales.
Definition of Food Poverty
Food poverty means the inability to afford, or have access to foods which make up a socially and culturally acceptable healthy diet.
Taken from: Poverty Bites: Food, Health and Poor Families by Elizabeth Dowler, Sheila Turner and Barbara Dobson. Published by Child Poverty Action Group, 2001.
Food Poverty Alliance Wales:
The Food Poverty Alliance Wales was set up in response to the outcomes of a Think Tank hosted by the Welsh Government and Public Health Wales in April 2015.
The Terms of Reference for the Food Poverty Alliance Wales can be found here.
The latest actions and discussions from the last Food Poverty Alliance Wales meeting can be found in the Resources section below.
The role of the Food Poverty Alliance Wales:
- Facilitate action on the vision to address food poverty, now and in the future.
- Prioritise and take forward agreed objectives across the Public, Private and Third Sectors, building on the work of the Food Poverty ‘Think Tank’.
- Advocate the importance of affordable nutritious and sustainable food for all and its impact on health and wellbeing, environment and quality of life.
- Provide case studies, best practice, and evaluation of outcomes to advise on measures and make recommendations to address food poverty.
The Food Poverty Alliance Wales vision:
- To enable all individuals, families and communities to have the ability to access affordable food which makes up a socially and culturally acceptable healthy diet every day.
- To begin to address some of the key themes that have emerged from the definitions and discussion around food poverty.
Key themes emerging from definitions and discussions around food poverty or food security:
Availability - is there sufficient food, where does our food come from, is there enough choice?
Access - can everyone in our population obtain food, do they have the skills and facilities to make best use of available food?
Affordability- can low income individuals families afford to buy appropriate foods for a nutritious diet?
Nutrition and Quality - do people consume the right type of food, in the right quantities for their health.
Sustainability - can we rely on continued access to food; Will everyone always be able to afford food?
(Food Poverty: What Does the Evidence Tell Us, Maslen, C, Raffle A, Marriott, S, Smith N, Bristol City Council, 2013)