The latest data on the number of UK families going hungry provides an alarming glimpse of the grim struggle faced by millions of people in their day-to-day lives. According to the Food Foundation tracker, one in five households with children have gone without meals in recent weeks, with 11 million people overall experiencing food insecurity – although this marks a small improvement since last summer. The finding that the amount of vegetables bought has fallen to a 50-year low is particularly dismaying, given all that we know about their role in promoting good health. Along with homelessness and inadequate housing, this is the rawest of all lacks. People are going without the basic necessities of life.
The foundation says that the price of a weekly basket of food has increased by around 25% in two years. While income inequality overall remains stable, the gulf dividing haves from have-nots becomes harder to justify when the difficulties afflicting the poorest households are so acute. The recent removal of the cost of living support payments that were paid on top of universal credit can only exacerbate a situation that is already causing unnecessary pain.
