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.

Yes.

Non-essential branded items can charge what they like
It's up to the consumer if they buy it.

I usually do. But my car needs a fix this month so might do without it next shop.

Fact: food is much more expensive than 2 years ago.
Fact: rents and mortgages are more expensive by some considerable amount.
Fact: NHS waiting lists are longer.
Fact: The UK has many more foodbanks and foodbank users.
Fact: Wages have not risen in line with inflation.
Fact: People are missing meals because of finances.
Fact: Many of these things have happened due to deliberate decisions taken by the useless shower of fuckwits in government.
Fact: Garam masala isn't going to help.
Fact: nor is pretending its all down to the undeserving poor.

Right, so it's absolutely fine that butter is now a luxury food item?

Butter? Not caviar, or smoked salmon, or a bottle of champagne, not hand picked olives, but BUTTER. Churned fucking milk and salt should rightly cost most of a tenner?

And there's nothing about that that makes you even the slightest bit concerned about food prices in general? They're still entirely reasonable? If people are going hungry, it's purely because they're too stupid and lazy to feed themselves?

I take your point but is it wildly unreasonable to expect people to group everything together and shop once a week to save bus fares/petrol? That's what most people do so I can't see why is is considered beyond people on a low budget. When I was skint I meal planned every week and bought everything in one trip. Anything left over was incorporated into the next week. Anything we didn't have we did without. It's not rocket science.

I have already said that food prices are high so I don't know why you are telling me I think they are reasonable?
I think if you did not choose a higher-end brand, known for being expensive, and the largest-size tub to make your point you would be more credible tbh.
No one is forced to buy massive tubs of Lurpak - I am reasonably comfortable these days and I would not dream of doing so. It's too expensive.
So why are you persisting on using this item as 'proof' of how people are unable to buy food?

Because butter should NEVER cost that much. It should not be possible to spend that much money on butter.

It should be outrageous that a basic food item could possibly cost that much.

You're talking to someone who is skipping meals TODAY. Why am I doing that when food is a reasonable price? Because I'm lazy and ignorant???? 😡😡

Fuck me!!

You haven't answered my question. Is it acceptable that butter is being sold for £8.18? Yes or no.

It’s a 750g tub, so effectively 3 blocks of butter, some people will buy in bulk and feel it’s worth it.

Because butter should NEVER cost that much. It should not be possible to spend that much money on butter.

You think you should be able to buy 3 blocks of butter for the price of 1, or butter should be free? If you buy enough butter you’ll spend that amount on it.

Of course butter is a luxury item
It does not add nutritional value. It is like ketchup, mustard, harissa paste, miso paste, olives
Adds flavour and can be a nice to have but not an essential. You can cook a meal easily without butter as you can without the other ingredients.

Did you read the article I posted about food prices and own brands katy??

Ok, well I guess the reason I was getting dizzy with hunger this morning is my own stupid fault then. Food is reasonably priced. I'm just too much of an idiot to make my money stretch far enough.

Thanks, everyone. Good to know.

I can answer this.

It's average households.

A nurse on £30K takes home just over £2K a month. Her mortgage/rent is £1200 and she’s got two kids in full-time nursery. You work it out. It’s not fucking difficult.

If you’re looking for evidence that food isn’t reasonably priced, choosing a large tub of branded butter isn’t going to make your case. Showing non-branded butter rising from £1.49 to £1.90 on the other hand…

If you want to make suggestions wrt budgeting, cheap shops and cooking healthily may I suggest the CoL forum @Katypp. This is a thread discussing bigger, national, systemic problems of the UK.

It's a year out of date but some of those things only came back down (a bit) because some 'virtue signallers' thought it was a pretty disgusting move by the supermarkets., who denied they did this until 'leftie' statisticians found the evidence.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jan/18/cost-of-supermarket-budget-brands-rose-203-in-december-survey-finds

Assuming there's a bus...

You're missing the point though. Not all butter is that price. You have a choice. It's like saying do we think it's reasonable that a particular brand of shoes ( which are considered an essential item) are £260 when we know there are cheaper options. It's acceptable and a reasonable price to the person who wants to pay that much, but most people won't. The same with Lurpak.

Oh so everyone on £28k is on the poverty line now? How silly,

If I needed evidence, I'd go and look at my empty cupboards.

Although apparently that's simply evidence of how feckless I am. Nothing to do with the fact that my outgoings this month haven't left enough over for food and that food is ridiculously priced. The cost of living is perfectly reasonable and no one is going hungry unless it's their own fault.

But nobody has to buy butter for £7.50. Surely, supermarkets can offer luxury items to whoever wants them, alongside normally priced products?
If I saw butter for £7.50 next to supermarket’s own brand for £1.60, I wouldn’t call it ‘supermarkets selling basic food items at stupidly high prices’, because there is a reasonably priced alternative available right next to it.
So the basic food item in this case costs £1.60, not £7.50.
Fwiw, I’ve never even noticed £7.50 butter, but why shouldn’t supermarkets sell it if there is demand? As long as they offer cheaper alternatives?

Resorting to the copy and paste, since people , so entrenched in their beliefs, won't read the links

Consumers reliant on supermarkets’ budget ranges bore the brunt of food price inflation in the run-up to Christmas, with increases far outstripping those for luxury own-label and premium brands, according to a survey.
The price of budget items rose 20.3% on average in December, compared with the same month a year before, according to research from the consumer group Which?, while supermarkets’ luxury ranges rose 12.6% and the price of branded items went up 12.5%.

Overall food price inflation averaged 13.3% in December, according to the British Retail Consortium’s latest figures.
However, price hikes for grocery staples including butter and spreads, milk and cheese were much bigger, according to the Which? survey – up 29%, 26% and 22% respectively, across all supermarket chains. Bakery items were up 19.5% and savoury pies, pastries and quiches rose 18.5%. Inflation was lowest for chocolate products,with prices up 6.5% on average.
The biggest individual price rise across all supermarket chains tracked by Which? was Quaker Oat So Simple Simply Apple (8x33g) at Asda, which increased 188% from £1 to £2.88 on average between December 2021 and 2022.

I'll add not living anywhere near a bus route to my ever-growing list of imagary reasons why people are unable to budget.

A challenge for people who think eating healthy on a tight budget for cheap is doable. Feed two teenagers, an adult woman, and a 25kg dog for £50 a week.

1 teen is allergic to shellfish and eggs, has a high metabolism and already bordering on underweight. She needs around 2400 calories a day.

2nd teen has sensory issues and cannot eat anything with a "velvety" texture. She describes this texture as the inside of a baked bean, hummus, and guacamole. It makes her teeth itch and makes her vomit. She is slightly overweight and inactive due to health issues so I'd say she could manage on around 1600 calories a day.

The adult woman has no food allergies and is not bothered whether she eats enough as long as the kids do. She will settle for one evening meal a day.

The dog is allergic to grains.

You need to include cleaning products and toiletries. One DD is allergic to most washing powder but can use Fairy non-bio. You only need to include period products for 1 teen. The others use mooncups. For this week's shop, we need shampoo, conditioner, sanitary pads, washing-up sponges, floor cleaner and bleach.

It's the budget I have worked out I will have for groceries while I am on UC after other bills are paid.

Well I would say that yes you are an idiot if you're paying over £8.00 for a tub of Lurpak and then saying you're dizzy from hunger. It's common sense to buy a cheaper brand.