Food and nutrition standards to address food insecurity

There is increasing evidence that in rich countries people are experiencing food insecurity due to poverty, unemployment, inequality, and other structural factors. Those most at risk include single parents, welfare recipients, people with disabilities, homeless people, and those with chronic conditions. Welfare programmes do not provide an adequate income for recipients to be able to afford a healthy diet and therefore food charity is the fall-back position. The ensuing response to food insecurity therefore is feeding programmes delivered via emergency food relief agencies. The lived experience of food insecurity and the use of food relief in developed countries is often not captured or understood, but it is essential to inform policy, including food and nutrition standards. The experience of the end-user is where food and nutrition standards development should start- a client-centred approach to decision making in policy formulation is best practice. This chapter starts with the story of "Ian" and his efforts and experience of food security and food relief. His story, derived from a composite of true stories from people accessing charity food assistance in Western Australia in 2016, is likely to be typical of other developed countries.