Feed: a food systems podcast Hunger on our doorstep (Part 1)
Jul 31, 2025
In this engaging conversation, Dominic Watters, a food campaigner from a deprived estate, shares his authentic experiences of living with food insecurity and the stigma it brings. Dr. Effie Papargyropoulou delves into the structural inequalities that exacerbate these issues, while Ana María Narváez presents alarming statistics on food affordability from the Broken Plate report. Together, they discuss the rising impact of COVID-19, unhealthy food marketing, and the cultural barriers faced by migrants, calling for a more inclusive approach in policymaking to tackle food poverty.
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Poverty Requires Constant Resilience
- Poverty forces parents into trade-offs like skipping meals or using energy to survive, not to cook nutritious food.
- Dominic says resilience is expected of the poor who face multiple daily hardships beyond food insecurity.
Advertising Shapes Unhealthy Preferences
- Food advertising heavily favours unhealthy products, while fruit and veg get only a tiny share of marketing spend.
- Ana María says companies invest in advertising because it shapes unconscious preferences and children's demands.
The Weight Of Fast-Food Promotion
- Ryan McShane describes the emotional impact of pervasive fast-food advertising and licensed tie-ins targeting children.
- He finds it crushing that brands still use big public adverts and toys to drive demand in 2025.