The first time Shelaine experienced real hunger was when she was 13 and her parents split up. “We went from being a solid working class family living in Hammersmith to a family plunged into poverty,” she says.
“When we ran short of food, mum would cook old potatoes that were well past their ‘use-by’ date, but I was revolted by their sprouting alien fingers and couldn’t eat them. It was a hard time but mum probably shielded us from the worst of it by making sure we ate first — this was common for families around us who were also struggling.”
