Dr. Cathal McCrory:

I can begin. One of the most controversial subjects at the moment is whether a healthier diet costs more than an unhealthy one. People have debated whether a healthy diet has to cost more than an unhealthy one. A meta-analysis of 27 studies across ten countries by researchers from Harvard University in 2013 showed that the cost of a healthy diet was $1.50 more per day than an unhealthy diet. If one scales that up to an individual over a year, it adds up to $550 and if one scales that up to two parents with two children, all of a sudden, one is talking about a difference of $2,000 per annum in terms of eating a healthy diet.

It costs more to eat a healthy diet. I am aware that other people have argued that it does not cost more, but the available evidence seems to suggest that it does. An evaluation exercise, as carried out by two other researchers called Darmon and Drewnowski, looked at the price of all foods in France and put the numbers into a computer system. They looked at the recommendations for a nutritionally-balanced diet and used a technique called linear programming to generate a nutritional diet for this amount of food. They found that €3.50 per day was the lowest amount of money that could be spent while ensuring a nutritionally-balanced diet. When they compared that to what people in France are spending on food in low-income households, the most they could afford was €2.50. The programme could not crunch enough to allow them a balanced diet at that price. We speak regularly about how we can get people to eat healthy diets, but we have to recognise that cost is a huge factor. Another study conducted by safefood in 2010-11 suggested that for people on welfare budgets, to eat a healthy diet costs approximately 25% of their income, while they spent 19% to 20% of their income on food. It does cost more, and we need to be aware of that.

In many low socio-economic status, SES, households, food is considered to be a flexible part of the budget. If one has utility bills, rent and car bills, what gives? Sometimes the food budget gives a little bit more because it is considered more flexible, and people might end up making poorer choices in terms of their diet. They might make sense to the person because he or she has a restricted budget available, but they might not make sense to a more affluent person who tells the poorer person what to eat. We need to be aware of the context in which that advice is given.

Research from the "Growing Up in Ireland" study shows that lower SES households are located further from supermarkets. We know that convenience stores offer restricted choice. Going into a shop to look for a healthy snack was mentioned. Convenience shops tend to stock fewer products, with more energy-intense products.