Introduction

This concluding chapter summarises what has been learned about the concept of food poverty and its prevalence in Ireland. It considers what drives food poverty, in the light of the complex picture emerging from interviews with food bank users. Pathways into food poverty for respondents in this study were impacted by a range of policies and practices of government, employers and other relevant stakeholders, which have wide-ranging implications. Following an overview of responses to food poverty in a comparative European context, consideration is given to the implications of these findings for a range of social policies in Ireland, and the actions needed to address the issue effectively.

Understanding food poverty

One of the aims of this book is to improve understanding of the concept of food poverty. As pointed out by Lambie- Mumford (2017: 17), there is a lack of clarity and a risk of confusion with different terms in use, such as ‘hunger’ and ‘food insecurity’. Underlying this ambiguity is the absence of agreed definitions, which gives rise to the use of different terminology. This results in inadequate assessments of the problem quantitatively, as the conceptualisation of food poverty affects measures to assess it. In order to address this shortcoming, the approach adopted in this work was to compare definitions of food poverty and food insecurity cited in the international literature. Four conceptualisations were chosen from different sources, principally from government departments and academics working on the topic. These definitions of food poverty, together with a further four definitions related to food insecurity, were broken down into their key elements (Chapter 2, Table 2.1) and their different aspects explored through interviews with food bank users. They include quantitative, qualitative, social and psychological dimensions.

An examination of the definitions of food poverty indicated that each one conveyed a quantitative dimension, reflecting a shortage of available food. In addition, each included a qualitative aspect, describing changes in food supplies and difficulties obtaining the desired variety of food or the preferred/required diet. These important aspects of food poverty were described clearly by respondents in interviews with food bank users (Chapter 6).