how so? has called on supermarkets to join a 10-point plan to help customers through the cost of living crisis, as it named the 50 areas where people are most likely to struggle to access affordable food.
The consumer group said supermarkets needed to “do more” to help customers by making sure shelf prices are easy to understand, making healthy budget lines widely available and offering targeted promotions to support people in areas most struggling.
Factors such as low income, poor access to affordable food, the lack of large supermarkets nearby and a lack of online grocery delivery have contributed to making it difficult for people to find healthy and affordable food, the watchdog warned.
She has drawn up a ‘Priority Places for Food Index’ with University of Leeds rank local areas based on the likelihood that people will need support to access affordable and healthy food.
The supermarkets have the power to take action and make a real difference to communities across the UK. That’s why we call on them to ensure that everyone has easy access to low-cost food options that enable healthy choices, can easily compare the price of products to get the best value, and that promotions are aimed at supporting people who are need the most
According to the index, England’s North-East has been hardest hit, with 45% of local areas “in urgent need of extra support” due to a tendency to have relatively poor access to online grocery delivery, worse-than-average proximity to supermarkets, and greater need for food assistance for families, such as food banks, the right to free school meals and the use of vouchers for a healthy start.
Yorkshire and the Humber, the West Midlands and the North West all about a third of the region’s local areas need extra help, according to Welke?
Constituencies in Birmingham and Liverpool are high at the top of the index, with 100% of local areas in Birmingham Hodge Hill needing additional support.
Which? found that the area has poor access to online delivery, high levels of fuel poverty, and people in the area with low incomes or no access to cars, with a volunteer at a local food bank reporting that there was no supermarket within two miles.
Knowsley in Merseyside is the second highest constituency for needing support, according to Which? analysis, with low income, fuel poverty and an “exceptionally high need” for food aid for families in 96% of local areas.
It also has half the number of large or very large supermarkets compared to the national average, indicating that affordable food is harder to find locally.
The index suggests that a total of seven in ten constituencies of the UK parliament have at least one area that urgently needs help getting affordable food, but there are sixteen constituencies in England and Wales with at least three quarters of the constituency at risk. .
In Wales, which one? found that the Valleys had the highest concentration of high-risk areas during the food crisis, where proximity to a major supermarket or access to online deliveries can be very poor. Wales also had a larger share than England and Scotland in rural areas where access to affordable food was a problem.
In Scotland, the places that needed the most support, according to the index, were in the Central Belt, but there was also a notable concentration in and around Dundeewhere there was relatively little access to online food delivery and people were more likely to experience fuel poverty and low income.
Northern Ireland had the most even geographic distribution of areas in need of support to access affordable food. However, there was a noticeably greater concentration in parts of the Southwest Belfast and in and around Derry/Londonderry.
With so many people in the UK already suffering from food insecurity and the cost of living crisis making it much worse, we must do everything we can to help the most deprived have access to affordable, healthy and sustainable food
Sue Davies, which one? head of food policy, said: “We know millions of people are skipping meals during the worst cost of living crisis in decades, but our new research tells us where in the UK support is most urgently needed.
“The supermarkets have the power to take action and make a real difference to communities across the UK. That’s why we call on them to ensure that everyone has easy access to low-cost food options that enable healthy choices, can easily compare the price of products to get the best value, and that promotions are aimed at supporting people who are need the most.”
Michelle Morris, associate professor of nutrition and lifestyle analysis at the University of Leeds, said: “With so many people in the UK already suffering from food insecurity and the cost of living crisis making that much worse, we all need to to help the most deprived to access affordable, healthy and sustainable food.
“That’s why, in collaboration with Which? developed the Priority Places for Food Index. Our interactive map makes it easy to identify neighborhoods that need support the most and highlights the top reasons they need it, recognizing that one size doesn’t fit all and that tailored help is needed.”