food poverty

Many people in Shropshire fall into food poverty because of health issues or disability. In many cases these households are unable to improve their financial position

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Shropshire has higher than national average number of benefits claims due to sickness or disability (8,600 people Apr 2017-Mar 2018)

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People with long term illness or disability have been particularly affected by changes to the benefit system

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Food banks across Shropshire report high levels of people with mental health issues seeking help with food

obesity

70.3% of adults in Shropshire are overweight or obese

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Poverty and Obesity often go hand in hand. With poor diets impacting on health

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The cost to the NHS of diet related ill health has been estimated at £6 billion per year

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eating well

The UK government recommends that we all plan our meals using the nutritional advice in the Eatwell Guide

Research suggests that this costs £41.93 per person per week

Households living on low incomes will spend significantly less

squeezed food budgets

When incomes are squeezed, food is often the only part of a household budget which can be cut

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Families on extremely low food budgets tend to focus on foods which are filling, rather than foods which have optimum health benefits

Food prices rose 28% in UK between 2007 and 2016, but average household incomes rose 5.1% in the same time period

After housing, fuel and power costs food is the largest expenditure for low income households, at 14.3% of their income