Healthy Food 'Unaffordable For A Third Of UK', Britsh Heart Foundation Says

A Third Of Us 'Cannot Afford Healthy Food'

Rising food prices have left a nearly third of people in the UK struggling to afford healthy food despite a desire to eat more healthily, a charity survey has suggested.

Two thirds of people who took part in the British Heart Foundation (BHF) survey said they would like to eat more healthily but 42% of them said they cannot because it is too expensive.

It follows the revelation that more than a million Britons are having to turn to food banks to have enough to eat.

The survey follows the news a million Britons now use food banks

A report by the Trussell Trust, which oversees food banks, showed a "shocking" rise of 163% on the previous 12 months amid rising living costs, low pay and welfare problems.

In the BHF survey, one in four said they had not bought any fresh fruit or vegetables in the last week.

The charity also said that rising food prices have seen grocery bills rise almost twice as fast as rent in the last five years, leaving nearly 40% of people admitting they have to sacrifice healthiness for cost when it comes to the supermarket shop.

The survey found that nearly three quarters of people earning less than £10,000 a year said they struggled to afford the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.

Victoria Taylor, a dietitian at the BHF, said: "Healthy eating on a budget is one of the biggest challenges of our times.

"With the increasing cost of a weekly shopping basket it's a real concern that despite people's best intentions they're struggling to eat healthily.

"But there are ways you can make healthy home-cooking more affordable, so that the rising price of your food shop doesn't need to come at a cost to your heart health."

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