The UK has left the EU and is also leaving it’s poorest families starving. Theresa May has promised that Britain will flourish in this brave new world, but before that happens (which many feel is unlikely) she needs to ensure the population can eat three meals a day.
A new survey by the FSA (Food Standards Agency) found that eight per cent of those questioned are facing low food security, so around four million adults in Britain are not able to eat the right amount of food needed, as they can’t afford to do so. Large sections of the nation are literally going hungry on a nightly basis.
The FSA, which questioned 3,000 adults in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, found that for unemployed respondents 47% said they often or sometimes worried about their food supplies running out before they got more money, compared with 7% of respondents in the top quartile of income.
The study reported that a quarter of low-income families under eat on a regular basis, due to their stretched finances. These shocking figures were recently reflected in the feature film I, Daniel Blake directed by Ken Loach. The filmmaker conducted their own research with case studies who are living in poverty, which formed the backbone of the story.
The FSA survey showed that women (10%) were more likely than men (6%) to live in food-insecure households. While 16% of young people aged 16-24 and 11% of 25- to 34-year-olds were food insecure, this shrank to just 1-2% for over 65s.
Anna Taylor, the executive director of the Food Foundation think tank, was shocked by the reports finding, she said: “To take so many British people off the breadline, the government must drive uptake of the Healthy Start program for young and low-income mothers, tackle gaps in food provision during school holidays and review our welfare policies to protect the diets of society’s most vulnerable.”
In one of the richest countries in the world it is shocking that a some many people in this nation can’t be sure if they are going to be able to eat today and feed their loved ones.
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