Putting food poverty in NI on the map

Description

Northern Ireland has a large rural spatial periphery and sparsity.  It’s rural population accounts for 38% of total citizens, meaning that more than one in three are considered as geographically dispersed.  As market-driven environments follow supply and demand, depopulated areas are used to justify urban centralisation of public, retail and social amenities, hence leaving many of our rural regions with rudimentary access to services, resulting in a rural-urban dichotomy in respect of food poverty and food access.  It is recognised that rural households who experience deprivation, experience it differently than their urban counterparts, mainly due to the isolating nature of dispersed services.  This means, rurality can be regarded as an exacerbation to the effects of poverty and in particular food poverty.

Subject

Rural food poverty