Food workers are going hungry

More than 60% of food workers have reduced the amount of food they eat, and just under half (45%) reported skipping meals to make sure others could eat enough, according to a new BFAWU food workers’ union survey on the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on its members.

Shockingly, the Foodworkers on the breadline survey also found almost 17% of respondents have had to use a foodbank, up from 7% in 2021.

The union says the clear reason for this is “evidenced by the 63% of our members who informed us that their wages are insufficient to meet their basic needs”.

It is demanding a £15 an hour minimum wage and says an incoming Labour government must have “a radical set of solutions” to the current cost-of-living crisis.

It also called on the devolved administrations, to “step up and ensure that no person, child or adult, goes cold or hungry in Britain in 2023”.

New figures from the Trussell Trust charity show a record number of food parcels — almost three million — were handed out last year. More than a million were provided for children.

The number of parcels provided between April 2022 and March 2023 represents a 37% increase compared to last year and is more than double the figure distributed by food banks five years ago.