15% of households skipped meals last month because they couldn't afford to buy enough food

[cakeorwine]

‘Health emergency’: 15% of UK households went hungry last month, data shows | Food poverty | The Guardian

"Millions of people – including one in five families with children – have gone hungry or skipped meals in recent weeks because they could not regularly afford to buy groceries, according to new food insecurity data.
According to the Food Foundation tracker, 15% of UK households – equivalent to approximately 8 million adults and 3 million children – experienced food insecurity in January, as high food prices continued to hit the pockets of low-income families.

Expects warned the persistence of high levels of food insecurity among low-income families was a “health emergency” that would drive the prevalence of conditions linked to poor nutrition, such as malnutrition and rickets.
Nearly two-thirds (60%) of food-insecure households reported buying less fruit and 44% bought fewer vegetables as they struggled with the ongoing cost of living crisis. By contrast, just 11% of food-secure households bought less fruit and 6% purchased fewer vegetables"

This is awful data - and something that should be being talked about. Being in work does not protect you from this. Life is just very expensive for some people - and costs are still going up.

It’s £40 in my area not £30.

Yes, there are so many factors not being taken into account here.

Not to mention that it should be blindingly obvious that someone who is in need of the cheapest possible food is guaranteed to be either skipping meals or eating things that are totally inadequate nutritionally and in portion size for their meals.

For most of my daughter's younger years I wouldn't say I was in poverty, but I was poor, she didn't go hungry and we had hot water and electricity for the essentials- because I didn't pay things like council tax and water bills instead, I prioritised feeding and clothing her and getting clothes clean (especially work and school uniforms) and travel costs to work. Getting the washing machine fixed, needing money to move yet again because the LL was selling up, new fridge (well second hand) when my other second hand one broke, buying uniforms (mine and hers - mine one tunic when starting for full time then but your own, certain trousers and shoes etc)

But clearly there still wasn't enough money to pay for everything, because some things just didn't get paid.
I'm still paying bits and pieces off now, and she's 20.
Was no picnic dealing with the bailiffs and debt either, but in all honesty it was preferable to a hungry and cold child in dirty clothes or losing my job because I couldn't afford to get there and I couldn't afford new uniform or to clean them to the required standard. People may criticise me for it but I did what I needed to do to survive. So avoiding poverty led to debt and when you don't have enough coming in, those are pretty much your choices. I also had family support too, which I'm eternally grateful for.
No holidays, no luxuries or extra experiences for her though or me, no iPhones or expensive gaming systems or streaming services. Just month to month survival.

I've climbed the ladder a bit, but the standard of surviving is pretty much the same now because everything has risen, I'm paying off those debts, and I'm supporting DD as an adult through university.

One good thing to come out of it all is she's at university, though had she gone to school hungry everyday, lived in a cold house, not had internet or a device (I only got broadband during COVID because she needed it for college) so she could do online college for her a levels for university, been dirty and in ill fitting clothes and shoes, she may well have not had the education she did and wouldn't have the opportunity she will when she leaves university, hopefully with a degree, to pursue a decent career and not be in the situation I was.

So I don't suppose looking at either of us then we'd have been considered in poverty, but the real story was very different.

The food bank thing - someone mentioned about people taking advantage just because it's there. Yes, that's true. Although very rare. And some people put on that front out of shame anyway (often the ones who outwardly project a successful image). Others sell it on as a bid to make money for the things that require cold hard cash, like heating. Sometimes drugs/alcohol sadly, but that's another vulnerability in itself. The exploitation of food banks is complex. It's not a case of thieving bastards who don't need it.

PMSL at all the 30p Lee fangirls and Jack Munroe wannabes on this thread.😆

I’m not laughing. I’m horrified. MN never fails to make me despair of the human race.

You didn't avoid poverty by getting into debt. You were in poverty and you got into debt sooner than let your children go without. That's not long-term sustainable and the banks and other lenders profited from, and still profit from, your hardship through the interest they charge.

This is not a criticism of your choices. It's an observation of material reality.

Merevale free range eggs from Aldi.

If you think that potatoes, eggs and peas is crap, it shows your lack of food knowledge.

I meant it tastes like crap rather than it is nutritionally crap but you knew that, didn't you?

Did you spot that poster mentioning that her DD is allergic to eggs?

I'd say that anything that causes a life-threatening allergic reaction is "crap".

@Frequency eggs and potatoes need not be bland - research different kinds of omelettes. Add a sprinkling of spices and they can be stunning.

1 DD is allergic to eggs. 1 DD has sensory issues which excludes certain foods because of texture. When have been skint the answer to "what's for tea?" was usually "beans and grilled tomatos on toast" or "scrambled egg and tomato" on toast depending on which child was asking.

At no point did it ever occur to me to feed them plain, dry potatoes and peas because who the fuck would eat that willingly?

As someone else has pointed out, that Guardian article is very misleading regarding the 15%.

You only need to read fairly recent threads on here that many people believe that you have an eating disorder if your diet includes lots of fruit, vegetables and other healthy food. So while I agree with your point I think the weight issue has more to it than just the cost of food but that is getting off topic.

In answer to the OP I can well believe this, our weekly shop has gone up £50 in the past year, just buying the same things as usual. It’s quite shocking and no one seems to be able to do anything about it. I worry it will only get worse.

Yes I did. I am not saying that someone should eat something that would be life threatening to them. That would be silly. But that fact does not make eggs "crap".

I would eat the above, but even if you wanted to swap the eggs for sausages which might be more appealing to children, 12 Richmond sausages are on offer at Tesco's for £2.00 so roughly 0.16p each. Swap the peas for baked beans? Still cheap.

Would you rather eat a dry jacket potato, peas and a fried egg or a pizza/beans on toast etc.

I mean, come on. Yes, it's cheap but it sounds like a bloody miserable way to eat when there are other options.

If there is a knob of butter going, then I would opt for the jacket, and peas. The egg would of course be welcome protein. That would be my choice anyday, over a ready made, shop bought pizza.

But that's just your opinion. We all have different food preferences. I like eggs and peas and jacket potatoes. I'm not a great fan of pizza.

I don't really understand the arguments that come up on every poverty/food thread. Different things can be true at the same time. Eating and cooking habits have changed, many old fashioned but cheap and nutritious recipes and cooking methods have fallen out of fashion. My grandma cooked cheap cuts of meat, beans, lentils etc in a pressure cooker to save on the gas and cooking time but they don't seem to be as widely used anymore.

I used to hate grandma's cooking as we were bought up on cheap, processed crap. New textures and flavours can take some getting used to. Its great me saying i can make a nice carrot and lentil soup for next to nothing but trying new food will always be a risk on a limited budget.

The price of food has risen dramatically and the cheap or budget lines seem to have increased far more than the branded equivalents. I know historically we have paid far more for food as a percentage of income but housing was so much cheaper.

@2dogsandabudgie and we are back to the transport issue. Great if you have an Aldi walking distance away. Not so great if you have to shell out a significant % of your food budget on bus fares. Honestly, some people on this thread just don't want to get it.

And what would a hungry child prefer?

Something to eat, would be my guess.