THE FOOD FOUNDATION is launching an online portal to share the experiences of people struggling to survive Britain’s cost of living crisis.
Breadline Voices, a new series from The Food Foundation, features powerful case studies highlighting the grim reality facing millions of families plunged into food and fuel poverty as food prices reach a 40-year high.The aim is to give politicians, policymakers, businesses and the media access to case studies and people with lived experience of the current cost of living crisis.
The series will be spearheaded by campaigners Kathleen Kerridge, a single mother from Portsmouth, Dominic Watters, a single father from Canterbury and Dan White from disability rights UK who lives in Fareham.
Dominic Watters said: “There is one shop on the estate, and it only stocks the lowest quality food and nothing fresh. The closest supermarket is two miles away, and many of my neighbours aren’t as mobile as I am. Our access to only poor-quality food, on many levels, epitomises the deprivation of where we live.”
Kathleen Kerridge said:”Food Poverty affects more than most people consider. When I was going through the very worst of it, my focus was entirely on survival. It was like fighting a personal war. The world becomes very small – is there a roof over your head, will you be able to eat today, is there money on the electric key?””
The cost of living crisis has made it increasingly difficult for people to be able to afford sufficient food. The latest data from The Food Foundation shows 7.3 million adults (13.8 per cent of households) suffered food insecurity in April, a 57 per cent increase since January. Monitoring food price changes will therefore provide a ‘live’ snapshot of exactly how the cost of living crisis is affecting prices across the country.
Anna Taylor, from The Food Foundation, said “The cost of living crisis is having a devastating effect on low-income families and their ability to secure the food they need to protect their health. The data and what we’re hearing from the frontline both show the cost of a healthy diet is out of reach for large numbers of people, which is going to exacerbate the already shocking levels of obesity and vast inequalities. The Government needs to realise people are facing a crisis that needs meaningful action, including ensuring benefit are set to a level which doesn’t prevent people from eating healthily. Similarly, businesses need to ensure they are paying all employees at least the Real Living Wage.”
The launch of the portal coincides with The Food Foundation’s creation of a shopping basket tracker to measure weekly price changes in what the average person may typically eat as part of an adequately nutritious diet. (Available here.)
The Food Foundation will also be inviting members of the public to write in to share their experiences of food insecurity over the coming months as millions are facing soaring costs of food and fuel bills. The series will help create a real life picture of what is happening across the UK and provide vital insight into how families are coping. Content can be submitted to [email protected]
* More about Breadline Voices here.
* Source: The Food Foundation