Iran Press/ Europe: The inflation crisis caused by sanctions on energy and food imports from Russia has seen the price of many staple foods rise by around 50 percent. Food bank charities say they are struggling to meet increased demand.
The survey on behalf of the Food Foundation, an NGO which promotes healthy eating, found that 22 percent of households said they had skipped meals or even fasted for a whole day in January this year, an increase on the 12 percent reporting the same at the start of last year.
Food poverty in the UK is defined as when households cannot afford food. In such families, parents often eat less or skip meals so children do not go hungry.
The NGO called on the government to extend the provision of free school meals to low-income and vulnerable families to cover more kids.
The UK is suffering the worst inflation crunch since the 1970s thanks to sanctions and embargoes on Russian fuel and food imports, with the price of petrol, diesel, and some staple foods rising by around half.
Many children from low-income households lost access to free school meals during the COVID-19 pandemic when schools were closed to most pupils. That prompted a campaign, supported by England footballer Marcus Rashford, for families to get supermarket vouchers in compensation.
More and more people are using food bank charities, first set up following the 2008 'Credit Crunch' financial crisis, with supermarket chains donating stock to them.
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