A community food and nutrition worker in Cavan who has been struck by the food poverty in the area has been prompted to consider starting up a social supermarket. Charlotte Wilson is employed in Cavan under the Sláinte Care Healthy Communities programme and working on the ground with Cavan Local Community Development.
She says that it is elderly people living in rural areas and the so-called "squeezed middle" who most experience food poverty in this region. A social supermarket stocks food at significantly reduced prices, is run by volunteers and users can come and select the foods they want depending on the size of their household.
In order to establish the need and interest in such a scheme for Cavan, Charlotte and CCLD have organised a series of information events across Cavan for next week. Charlotte and her colleagues particularly want to hear from anyone who has first-hand knowledge of food poverty in Cavan and who may have ideas for the proposed supermarket.
"A social supermarket provides food at a lower cost, often a significantly lower cost than your traditional supermarket," Charlotte explained, "It addresses food insecurity, yes, but will differ in its approaches. To come to a social supermarket you have to be involved in wrap around services so this will be such as speaking to a social welfare officer and say, a mortgage advice officer, just to get to the root cause of the food insecurity."
Information sessions about the social supermarket model are on at the following places and times: Monday, 12th February: Le Chéile Hub, Cootehill from 11am - 1pm and Beckscourt Centre from 3-5pm. Tuesday, 13th February: Blacklion Enterprise Centre 10-11am; Belturbet Men's Shed 1:30 - 3:30pm and the Bridge Street Centre, Cavan Town from 6pm until 8pm. And, on Wednesday, 14th February: The Réaltóg Centre, Kilnaleck 10am -12pm; and Ballyjamesduff Museum at 1:30 -3:30pm.
