Food insecurity, whether due to economic, physical, social, or political forces, is a powerful psychosocial stressor linked to virtually every mental health and neurodegenerative condition in the book. Thus food security has a positive impact on mental wellbeing.

In this article I’ll touch on some of the stressors my clients and I have experienced lately when it comes to food, and share with you some alternatives, if you want to continue (or start) a nutritious diet.

What is Food Security?

Food security describes the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.

Food security is realised when individuals consistently have the physical and economic means to access sufficient safe and nutritious food that aligns with their dietary preferences, supporting a healthy and active lifestyle. The absence of these is considered food insecurity.

There once was a time when it was easy, but of late, food prices have become so much higher, its causing more stress in the middle-lower class than it ever has before. This conversation has arisen amongst my clients who fear the future of buying health food.

It takes me back to a quote I saw whilst going down a conspiracy hole a few years back; ‘control the food, and you control the people’ – when you look at how corporate giants operate, you see that the only way they survive is to increase profits, and the only way they can increase profit, is to increase price margins.

Our primary supermarkets have been sold off to international investors and with that, food prices are up by an average of 25%. Unless our Government intervenes, it’s only going to get worse (and I am sure you didn’t see that one on your local electorates info sheet last week).

Food security has far-reaching health implications, but for this article we are focussing on mental health, as this is the most important piece of all.

Food Security Impacts our Mental Health

Food insecurity is considered a psychosocial stressor that negatively impacts mental health, leading to increased levels of psychological disorders such as anxiety, depression, shame, and stress.

Despite having countless drugs available to ‘support’ mental wellbeing, the easiest way to manage mental health is to eat a highly nutritious diet – lots of the good stuff, and leaving our the processed, packaged stuff.

Nutrition is foundational to brain development and neurological health. Nutrients such as iron, iodine, omega-3s, and vitamins B, C, D, and E are essential for cognitive functioning and emotional regulation across the lifespan – and we find these nutrients extensively throughout a whole foods diet.

What Can we do About it?

Continue to fight for healthy foods for all. Continue to purchase as much healthy food as our budget allows. Don’t let the food giants steer you into a corner! I purchase my vegetables and eggs from the local farmers markets – their prices and quality is the same as it’s always been.

ALDI’s has an amazing organic food range (and generally speaking, all their food is good!) Price wise, large blocks of chocolate are $3.99 rather than Coles/Woolworths $8.50, and tuna comes it at about 40% of the price. There are plenty more examples – fish, packet vegetables, nut milks, protein yoghurts. Go and have a look for yourself!

Lastly, your health food items will regularly go on sale. Coles and Woolworths often reduce prices back to their OLD price as a ‘sale’, and sometimes reduce them further. We only by over-priced items when these sales come, like YoPro Yoghurt (i purchased 20 pouches at $150 each yesterday), grass-fed beef is often ‘two for $20’ instead of $14 each.

We buy protein bars from the supermarket or Chemist Warehouse, but only when they are half price. And we buy them in bulk.

This article was really just to keep you aware of the changes that are happening, and help you recognise that with a little effort, you can still afford to buy healthy food! We still have options, we just need to fight back where it counts – with our dollars.

And we will continue to have to fight for our health.

Jen X