We are what we eat. But are Britain’s older people getting a fair deal from our policymakers, food manufacturers and supermarkets? David Smith of the Welsh Food Alliance says that there’s room for a lot of improvement.
     Earlier this year, older peoples organisations and Mature Times readers took part in a survey on their shopping and cooking habits. Although it was organised in Wales, the survey was UK-wide and almost a thousand people not only filled in the forms but some took the trouble to send in helpful background on the problems they encounter, and even include recipes, tips and the odd cartoon!
     Clearly, many people wanted to have a conversation about food and the lack of choice available to them. The information was presented to the Older People’s Food Summit, which took place at the National Assembly for Wales in March. The findings are an invaluable platform to help us put pressure on retailers, and to help government, councils and others make policy changes where they are needed to stop malnutrition.
     Malnutrition might sound an over strong word – after all, we live in a developed country and our supermarkets are full of foods from all around the world. But I promise you it is not.
     For instance, 43% of those taking part said that rises in fuel prices are changing the way they prepare food – Slow cookers, grilling, pressure cookers, steamers, microwave or smaller ovens found favour, with others choosing quick-cook food or limiting food choice to economise on fuel.
     Many complained about the discriminatory practice of ‘buy one get one free’ offers, but not the smaller portions required. Even if they were able to carry home such items home, could they get their basket with wheels on and off the bus, or had they space in the home to store them? 42% encountered difficulties in getting shopping home.
     Absence of small portions means food is wasted. The biggest single complaint was packaging and the difficulties encountered in opening bottles, tins and removing plastic wrappings. While food prices overall have risen 9% in the year to February (well above the rise in pensions), the big hike in meat prices has made pork, beef and lamb a luxury in many older person households.

Many people have resourcefully found ways round: buying larger portions, cooking them in batches and storing for future use. But this is not an option for all. New retirement accommodation (often built away from shops and public transport) is often a bedsit arrangement - without a kitchen, but an electric socket for a microwave.
     ‘Meals on wheels’ sometimes provide a nutritious hot meal for a lot of people, but what many would welcome would be an opportunity to eat more socially – perhaps in underused pubs, or other suitable local environments.
     Many respondents were limited in what they could cook by physical restraints: conventional kitchens were no longer found to work for many, with cupboards too high, non-existent, and shelving too high or too low and ovens that are too expensive or difficult to use.
     But what came over loud and clear was that a combination of factors: price rises, energy costs, physical limitations, supermarket pricing policies and product choice – meant that many people were making diet choices that are not giving them the balanced, nutritious diet they need.
     As a key speaker at the conference made clear, this problem is actually accentuated in many care homes where meals regularly contain too much salt and fat. The problems of malnutrition in hospital are even more worrying.
     Our plan now is to talk to government, health organisations and supermarkets (none of whom came to the conference, despite being invited) and put this issue into the public arena. We believe that the nutritional needs of older people are being ignored.
     Some solutions lie in the hands of policy makers, some with food suppliers and some, it must be said, in the way that older people themselves plan, buy and cook their food.
     We have made a fantastic start to what – we hope – will change the way that we shop, cook and eat. Watch this space, as they say!

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UK Council of Elders

Food for thought

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