Of the multitude of festivals taking place in Belgium, one that you likely won't have heard of is Nourrir Bruxelles – a rather different affair to those we are used to and which instead promotes discussion about how to feed the city.
Alongside more academic presentations about agroecology and rethinking distribution networks, the more pressing matter of literally putting food in the mouths of Belgium's most deprived residents is high on the agenda. In a demonstration reminiscent of the Stone Soup folk story, an oversized and empty cooking pot was paraded through the capital on Wednesday to signify the growing hunger that many are now facing.
The message is stark: a significant number of people have had to choose between heating and eating this year. And though boilers will now be switched off and energy bills thankfully far below the alarming peaks of winter, the cost of food remains high.
Unreasonably so many argue, given that production costs are no longer what they were a few months ago. The gap between purchase prices and production costs is growing, bringing in a healthy profit for retailers but squeezing consumers. The effect can be seen in the increasing dependence on food banks – a desperate need that can no longer be sated by organisations unable to gather enough comestibles.
As a result, the industry has been issued an ultimatum: reduce food prices within a month or face public naming-and-shaming for those who cannot justify their higher prices by demonstrably high production costs. How much our grocery bills might fall is uncertain, but with food inflation on some items more than 10% higher than baseline inflation, the lower prices should certainly be noticeable.
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