Conference focuses on food poverty
A conference looking at ways to ensure everyone has access to good quality, tasty, healthy food, regardless of income, is to take place at St Asaph Cathedral tomorrow (Tuesday 4 July 2023).
It follows the Food and Fuel campaign launched by the Archbishop of Wales last year as the cost-of-living crisis was beginning to bite and will hear from speakers offering ways to improve access to food. Archbishop Andrew John has sent a video message of support to the conference, which is being run in partnership with Well-Fed, a social business based in Shotton. It will be launching its Meals on Wheels service which makes good food affordable for everyone.
The Director of Well-Fed, Robbie Davison, one of the speakers at the conference, said: “I think good food is the most powerful tool to bring about social change. You can capture everyone if they are sitting down and eating something good and tasty. If people eat well, they will cope well. I have seen thousands of people in crisis due to hunger and the biggest thing to make a difference is access to a good quality meal.
“When people have very little money, the right things to eat must taste good and they have to be cheaper than the really poor quality, ultra-high processed food that so many people have become used to. At Well-Fed, we subsidise our food to ensure it is affordable to absolutely everyone.”
If people eat well, they will cope well
Among the speakers on the day is the Dean of St Asaph Cathedral, Nigel Williams. He will be encouraging delegates to support Well-Fed’s Meals on Wheels service by opening their churches as hubs to distribute food.
Nigel said: “As the Church in Wales we have a presence in every community and our congregations could decide to offer a base from which Well-Fed can distribute their meals to support communities to eat well.
“Access to good quality affordable food is an issue for everyone, regardless of income. Many rural communities exist in a food desert with little access to shops and supermarkets, so churches could be a useful base from which good quality, affordable food can be available to all.”
The other speakers include the Archbishop of Wales’ Chaplain, the Revd James Tout who is also priest in the Offa Mission Area near Wrexham and Jen Griffiths from Flintshire County Council, which already works in partnership with Well-Fed.
More than 150 people have signed up to attend the conference and (free) tickets are now sold out. As well as listening to the speakers they will have a chance to sample the meals provided by Well-Fed and ask questions about the new service.
Over the winter, the Diocese of St Asaph worked in partnership with Well-Fed to open two warm hubs in churches in Deeside. St Mark’s Church in Connah’s Quay and St Ethelwold’s in Shotton provided freshly made soup and a roll and everyone who attended went home with a free healthy ready meal.