NZPA

Tough economic times are causing “food stress” in poor and middle-class households as they cut back spending on food to cope with costs such as rent or mortgage payments, researchers say.

“Households with low or moderate food security used food as a flexible part of their budget they could manipulate…depending on what was happening that week,” Otago University nutritionist Claire Smith said today.

This was done so that families could pay for accommodation, power, petrol and insurance, she said.

“If we could ease the economic constraint of those expenses, it would probably have an flow-on effect in terms of how much people can spend on food.”

But proposals for behavioural solutions, such as getting households to budget properly, buy less ready-to-eat food such as takeaways, spend more time cooking, or shop more usefully were largely ineffective, according to Ms Smith, a speaker at a three-day national conference being held in Dunedin from tomorrow by Dietitians New Zealand.

She said research in 2007 and 2008 showed 60 percent of the households she surveyed in Dunedin and Wellington were “food secure” but 10 percent had low food security and 30 percent had only moderate security.

“Nearly half of the low-income families – those with an income of less than $30,000 – were experiencing food insecurity,” she told a Science Media Centre briefing for journalists before the conference.

Since the start of the Family, Food Environment study, economic recession had been accompanied by wider income cuts, redundancies, and increased food, electricity and fuel prices.

Earlier work had shown that a lack of food security was more commonly found in households in deprived areas, and those with children or those headed by younger adults, and in Maori or Pacific Island homes, single parent homes, or those reliant on welfare payments.

An adult woman in a “food-secure” household was spending an average of $55.64 a week on food.

The equivalent spending in a home with moderate food security was $49, and a woman with low food security spent $36.52, mainly by buying fewer snacks, cakes, and biscuits, less non-alcoholic drinks, and lower-quality bread.

“They weren’t spending their money on empty calories,” Ms Smith said. “They were maintaining their spending on foods such as milk.”

She said secure and insecure households bought similar numbers of ready-to-eat meals, but the poorer families were opting for unhealthier takeaways such as fish and chips, rather than eating in restaurants.

An associate dean at Flinders University in Adelaide, Professor John Coveney – who will attend Dunedin conference – said the Otago research was important because it showed calls for poor people to simply eat less junk food was based on a myth.

On 22 May the Alliance Party and Socialist Worker jointly launched the Tax Justice campaign. The focus of the campaign is a petition calling on parliament to:

1. Remove GST from food; and

2. Tax financial speculation.

The reception to the campaign has been very encouraging. So far 7,000 signatures have been collected.

A growing list of supporters outside of Socialist Worker and the Alliance are offering to help with the campaign.

And 1,800+ people have joined the No GST on Food Facebook page.

The Tax Justice campaign is connecting with people angered by the hike in GST and the escalation of basic living costs, who are also worried by the economic situation following the world financial crisis and its impact on the New Zealand economy.

10,000 signatures in two days

On 1st October GST will increase from 12.5% to 15%. The GST hike is going to be a big issue in the media and for grassroots people. This will be an opportunity to promote a just solution to New Zealand’s unfair tax system.

The Tax Justice campaign is going to organise a Double Day of nationwide petition stalls on Friday 1st October and Saturday 2nd October. Our goal is to get 10,000 signatures in two days.

It’s hoped that through a heavily promoted Double Day of signature collecting we can reach more supporters and break into local and national media.

You can help

With your help we can reach our ambitious target of 10,000 signatures in two days. If you want to be part of the Tax Justice action on 1-2 October get in touch with us straight away. Contact campaign coordinator Vaughan Gunson, email svpl@xtra.co.nz or ph/txt 021-0415 082.

To take the campaign to another level we’re establishing a national Organisers Team. That team is open to anyone who wants to help. We want to cover the country with Tax Justice organisers.

The Tax Justice Organisers Team will communicate largely by email. If you want to be part of the team, contact Vaughan.

In solidarity,

Vaughan Gunson
Socialist Worker

and

Victor Billot
Alliance Party