Despite predictions for economic growth in Cardiff, the city still faces significant food insecurity which has only been exacerbated by COVID-19. Over the past years, both private and government-led organisations have attempted to tackle the problem, with limited success thus far. However, viewing food accessibility and inequality through a UPE lens is valuable for highlighting both the causes (e.g. structural inequalities) and symptoms (e.g. lack of immediate access to food) of the food crisis (Agyeman and McEntee, 2014).
Food insecurity can be defined as “insufficient and insecure access to nutritionally adequate food due to resource constraints” (Morgan et al., 2019). There are several systems in place to deal with the symptoms of food insecurity – these include efforts by supermarkets to donate unsold food to charities, food banks, and schemes by Food Cardiff that encourage local food growth, healthy eating, and waste reduction.
Agyeman and McEntee (2014) suggest that while private food companies are enlisted to manage these symptoms of hunger, the causes fail to be addressed. By enrolling larger companies and supermarkets to ‘fix’ the symptoms of hunger, Cardiff continues to feed into the commodification of food that leads to these structural inequalities. The commodity fetishization of food is ultimately a barrier to the poor and marginalised, as the value of food is attached to market values and the inherent value of the finished product, as opposed to the value of its production and labour (Hudson and Hudson, 2003). These structural inequalities include issues such as classism, sexism, and institutional racism, whereby some people are able to buy healthier foods in higher quantities while others cannot.
As 33% of ethnic minority groups within Wales reside in Cardiff, racial inequalities are likely to be highly visible here (Nicholl et al., 2016). Rises in unemployment are projected to disproportionately impact those of Non-White ethnicities across Wales. Meanwhile, unemployment for women from ethnic minorities is projected to be below 50% from 2012-2022. Women in Wales are also recorded to be more than twice as likely to suffer from food insecurity than men (Irdam and Porter, 2018).
This is likely because they often bear greater responsibility for dependents in the household as well as general housekeeping. A lack of financial control in a partnership or the inability to work while maintaining a single-parent household are also likelihoods. Keeping these factors in mind, it seems that those belonging to a Non-White ethnicity, women, and particularly Non-White women, are at the greatest disadvantage from the commodification of food, food accessibility, and low food quality.
Organisations such as Food Cardiff are the city’s attempt to increase food equality for those currently disadvantaged. Free school meals, local food deliveries, voucher schemes, and a push for buying locally grown produce will hopefully guarantee that everyone has access to enough high-quality meals. Agyeman and McEntree (2014) argue that these methods continue to rely on the marketisation of food, further perpetuating injustice. However, Cardiff Council’s food strategy outlines plans to create community healthy food pantries, map food deserts (areas lacking markets and food shops) and food swamps (areas oversaturated with unhealthy food establishments), and develop spaces where community food can be grown to create an ‘edible landscape’ (Cardiff Council, 2020). An added benefit to this, of course, would be a reduction in carbon emissions and a significant step in becoming a One Planet Cardiff by 2030. These approaches are far more community based, and IF everybody cooperates, then they could prove to be highly successful for the reduction of food inequality.
Word Count: 580
References
Agyeman, J. and McEntee, J. (2014). Moving the field of food justice forward through the lens of Urban Political Ecology. Geography Compass, 8 (3), pp. 211-220.
Cardiff Council (2020). One Planet Cardiff: Our vision for a Carbon Neutral City by 2030. Cardiff: Capital Ambition.
Hudson, I. and Hudson, M. (2003). Removing the veil? Commodity fetishism, fair trade, and the environment. Organisation & Environment, 16 (4), pp. 413-430.
Irdam, D. and Porter, L. (2018). Food Security in Wales. Food Standards Agency. University of Westminster.
Morgan, K. et al. (2019). Socio-Economic Inequalities in Adolescent Summer Holiday Experiences, and Mental Wellbeing on Return to School: Analysis of the School Health Research Network/Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children Survey in Wales. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 16 (7), pp. 1107.
Nicholl, A. et al. (2016). Breaking the links between poverty and ethnicity in Wales. Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
The Urban Digest 
Really interesting, I was not aware of how significant the food equality issue is in Cardiff. Given the push to utilise locally-grown produce more, I wonder whether leaving the EU will have an impact on this. While Wales largely voted for Brexit, I believe that a lot of Welsh agriculture – a big proportion of the Welsh economy – benefitted healthily from EU subsidies. With these subsidies most likely removed now, will Welsh farming be able to keep up with new demands for locally-produced food? Perhaps it will become more expensive, meaning that those who are most in need of good-quality food are less able to afford it.
LikeLike