According to the most recent annual Broken Plate report from The Food Foundation, the poorest fifth of the population in the UK would need to spend half of their disposable income on food to meet the cost of the government’s Eatwell Guide, compared with just 11% for the least deprived fifth.
The report suggests that healthier foods are over twice as expensive per calorie as less healthy goods. For example, healthier foods have increased in price over the past two years by £1.76 per 1,000kcal compared with £0.76 for less healthy foods.
When broken down by Eatwell Guide category, fruit and vegetables remain the most expensive category by a significant margin, costing on average £11.79 per 1,000kcal compared with food and drink high in fat and/or sugar costing just £5.82 per 1,000kcal.
The report also found that 56% of calories consumed by older children and adults were coming from “ultra-processed” foods.
According to Food Foundation executive director, Anna Taylor, “It is perfectly possible for us to increase the flow of affordable, nutritious food through our food system and into our shops and takeaways, we just need to get the incentives right within the system”.