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The high cost of a crisis

The deepening cost-of-living crisis has resulted in many harsh facts. Such as this – one in seven adults (around seven million Brits) are ‘food-insecure’.

As we all know, families are under extreme mental health stress as they are forced to cut back on food and skip meals, a number that has risen by 57%, according to The Food Foundation.

In light of Mental Health Awareness Week in May, ‘smart food’ innovators yfood commissioned research that investigated how the cost-of-living crisis has impacted the way that Brits are spending their money and the long-term effect on their mental and physical wellbeing.

In turn, the study showed that the rise in living costs has resulted in close to 16 million Brits buying cheap food at the expense of their nutritional needs:

As society adjusts to a world of rampant inflation, the findings revealed that prioritising finances has become the driving factor when it comes to purchasing food, with a staggering 54% of Brits becoming more money-conscious than nutritious-conscious.

In addition, 51% are surviving on cheap calories by opting to buy food that is more affordable and will last longer, such as frozen food and ready-meals.

This all boils down to the common belief that healthy food is expensive, as further reflected in the data, which shows 41% of Brits associate nutritious food products with unaffordable prices.

This means Britain needs a wake-up call because there is such a lack of understanding as to where people can source their essential nutrients. While independent health food stores and their suppliers and associations are clearly playing their part, what we need is a clearly co-ordinated national campaign that healthy doesn’t necessarily spell expensive. Just plain common sense.

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