Hunger rates above national average in one in six authorities

In one out of every six local authorities, rates of hunger are more than 150 per cent the national average, according to new research.

The University of Sheffield has revealed the areas in the UK where residents most struggle to afford or access food and found that rates of hunger are more than 150 per cent the national average in one out of eery six local authorities. Shockingly, in one in 10 local authorities, the rate is almost double.

According to data from the Food Foundation, in January 2021, 4.2 per cent of adults across the UK reported that during the previous month they had been hungry but unable to eat at least once, but the problem is much worse in some places with nearly one out of every ten adults going hungry.

The new analysis collected during the pandemic goes further to assess the problem at a local authority level and breaks down experiences of food insecurity into three distinct groups, mapping them for the first time: those who are hungry; those who are struggling to access food; and those who worry about food insecurity or being able to continue to supply adequate food for their household.

The map shows it is in England where the areas with the highest and lowest rates of food insecurity are located. At one end of the scale, the majority of local authorities in Yorkshire and the Humber are in the top 20 per cent of local authorities with the greatest percentages of adults going hungry, whereas in the East of England, the majority of local authorities are in the 20 per cent that have the lowest percentages.

Across the Sheffield City Region, both Rotherham and Barnsley are in the 20 per cent of local authorities with the highest percentages of adults who were hungry at least once in January. While Rotherham, Barnsley and Doncaster are all in the 20 per cent of local authorities with the highest percentages of adults who were most likely to have struggled to access food.

The areas worst hit by food insecurity are Wycombe with 14 per cent of people who are estimated to be hungry and nearly 30 percent of people who are struggling to access food.  The area also has high estimates for numbers of people who are worried about having enough food (22 per cent). This is followed closely by Hull with 13 per cent of people being hungry and more than one in five adults who struggled to access food. The locality with least hunger, struggle or worry is St. Albans.

Megan Blake from the University of Sheffield Institute for Sustainable Food, who collaborated on the work, said: “This new map, for the first time, makes visible the patterns of food insecurity across the UK. While no one should have to go hungry, struggle to get or worry about having enough food, in some places it is at proportions that are especially shocking, particularly as we are a wealthy country. If we are going to recover from Covid-19 we must address this problem.”