Food price hike putting huge pressure on working families

LOCAL families are coming under increasing pressure as the price of food has risen by an incredible 40 per-cent in one year.

The UK has seen inflation rise much faster than most other major developed nations. It currently stands at 10.1 per-cent, compared with 7.7 per-cent in the Republic of Ireland and 4.8 per-cent in the USA.

During the last year in the UK, the price of olive oil has increased by 49 per-cent, sugar by 32 per-cent, and milk, cheese and other dairy products well over 30 per-cent.

Local families are finding it harder and harder to cope with price rises and, as a result, are finding no other alternative but to use food banks.

Pastor Graham McElhinney, of the Life Triumphant Church in Omagh, who runs a local foodbank at the Outreach Centre in Campsie, said more and more working families were having to use the facility due to rapid food price increases and a tough winter which depleted any savings they had.

He said, “We have seen a large increase in working families using the food bank. Families are finding it harder than ever to make ends meet and in many cases cannot afford food.

“The increases in gas and oil prices and the cold winter did not help either. But, families feel like they have had no other choice but to come to us and use our services.

“When families come in they often tell us they cannot cope with the constant cost increases in their weekly shops. We can even see it ourselves when we buy food for the food bank. The amount of money it now costs has increased greatly.

“Something has to be done to stabilise prices or even more people will have to use food banks.”

Another organisation seeing an uptake in usage is St Vincent de Paul (SVP), which said that people are using their services at an increasing rate. SVP locally hands out fuel vouchers as well as distributing food packages.

A representative from the group told the UH that the charity is always there to help people in need.

Mairead Taggart, Omagh area president of SVP, said, “ Across the local chapters in the Omagh area we have seen a huge increase in people getting in contact with us about using our services. It isn’t just people who’ve used our services before, either. We are seeing a large amount of new callers. More than two thirds of these are from people who are a part of working families.

“This was made worse by cuts to the free school meals grant over the Easter holidays, which was hugely essential. This needs reinstated.

“The main two things people locally who are coming to SVP are asking for is very basic, just heating oil and food.”