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.

Urgh people banging on about iPhones on threads like this still. My iPhone is so old it won't update anymore, has a cheap contract.

Had anyone tried to do any sort of basic admin or claim benefits without a smart phone or laptop? Ignorant fucking arseholes

You've worked a 10-12 hour shift on your feet, your kids are tired and antsy and you're tired and irritable. Which are you cooking? The 15 min shove in the oven/air fryer meal and grab a cup of tea or the stand at the counter chopping and stirring for 40 mins meal?

Because they are buying cheap UPF food and less fruit and veg.
Also, people aren't taught to cook / budget now.

That's why I said "if".

https://www.jrf.org.uk/uk-poverty-2024-the-essential-guide-to-understanding-poverty-in-the-uk

So you're just eating a large bag of casserole veg are you? It's l99p for a basic pizza which is a lot more filling and enjoyable than chomping through a bowl of boiled carrots and swede because you can't afford EVERYTHING ELSE THAT GOES IN A CASSEROLE. Not to mention the electric to cook a casserole for hour. Ee my Christ are people this sheltered?

Have you been living under a rock for the past few years? Have you not seen the increases in food, gas & electricity, fuel, rents and mortgages? People’s incomes haven’t risen at the same rate so of course there’s going to be people who can’t make ends meet. It won’t just be those out of work, on benefits either.

I despair at the fact that this country is in such a state that we have more food banks than we do branches of McDonald’s, the Health Minister said shes “privileged” to have wonderful food banks in her constituency, yet people still imply that if you have to use a food bank you’re the one at fault.

There will be pensioners, disabled people, children and new mothers going hungry. Instead of asking “why is everyone fat then “ 🙄 why not ask why we’re heavily subsidising MP’s meals when they can afford their own?

It's frustrating isn't it! Mumsnet reminds me of those wealthy Victorian ladies who had nothing to do with their time and money so spent both bothering the poor by moralising about how they should live their lives without understanding the reality of it.

Casserole veg on the hob for half an hour is going to be cheaper than a frozen pizza in the over for 15 mins. Casserole in a slow cooker would be even cheaper.

I cook everything from scratch and it costs a fortune. I could buy a family sized crappy frozen lasagne for a fiver. I make my own and spend more than that on the meat alone.

A bag of casserole veg and beans isn’t a full meal for most people. I can’t imagine many children not turning their nose up at a vegetable casserole, and low-income parents are conscious of not wasting money on food that will end up in the bin.

Not exactly nutritious. Where's the protein? Where's the fats? Children need fat in their diet.

Where's the energy for the parent to stand there for half an hour cooking?

How much protein do you think is in a cheap frozen pizza?
Chuck in some beans or pulses.
Stand there cooking? Chuck in the pan, stir it a couple of times. We're not cooking a 3 course meal.

The veg I mentioned is already prepared so all I do is put it in a saucepan with stock, add seasoning and let it simmer for 30 minutes, all that can be done whilst waiting for the kettle to boil for a cup of tea. Then add the tin of pulses for the last 5 mins and you have a healthy nutritious filling meal.

why is this thread illustrated with pictures of a South African market and shopping bill in rand, as though, somehow, either are relevant

I for one have never seen such shiny perfect enormous luscious enticing food in this country ever ever ever, most of it can be washed and eaten raw, no cooking involved, nor essential in a hot country

It’s not filling. It’s soup. Might be okay for a quick lunch but not enough for the main meal of the day.

What next, gruel for breakfast?

This is rapidly turning into “Let them eat cake” or in this case dhal. The fact is that a million children in the UK are currently living in destitution - let that sink in, not poverty but actual destitution. Rickets has now made a reappearance. And all anyone can suggest is slow cookers and bags of root vegetables.

And a 99p pizza I'd filling? For a family?

What is the root cause then?

Yes. Carbs, protein and fat all in one meal that can be cooked in moments for a time and money poor household.

The lack of empathy coming from the 'I'm alright Jack' brigade is astonishing!

A 99p pizza is around 700 calories. At a push that might feed 2. It's not a filling meal for a family by any stretch

I think you probably need some lessons in comprehension. Where did I state that
‘it was a good thing’.
I was questioning the statistics and the evidence of my own eyes. I know lots of people missing meals in January, all to do with losing weight.

But I thought kids were starving, not picky eaters?

Lots of children won't eat unfamiliar foods or foods they hate, no matter how hungry they are.

Absolutely.

I don't have an iphone (I'm an android fan) but I was made redundant last year, luckily I had a redundancy payout and some savings but I also claimed UC as a lone parent in a rented property, it was a pittance, I'd have seriously struggled if I hadn't had the redundancy money. I already had a smart phone at that point with a contract so couldn't exactly have stopped paying for it, plus I needed it to update my UC journal!

It's filling for children where parents are skipping meals because, I don't know, they can't afford to buy food. This happens all the time by the way.