Food and Poverty: Insights from the ‘North’

The role that food and nutrition play in the material definitions of poverty are contrasted with the social construction of malnutrition and poverty, drawing largely on British experience. The consequences for poor health and premature death are briefly examined; in particular, the connection is made to the world‐wide growth in obesity, and in cardio‐vascular disease, cancers and diabetes. The lived experience of those defined as poor in the North, and the implications of contemporary policy initiatives and responses by state, private and voluntary sectors, are explored. The challenges of the dominant policy framework remain consumer and individual choice, rather than public health and citizenship, which militates against the realisation of true food security.