The truth behind supermarket food price rises - Uncovered podcast

In this week’s episode of Uncovered, Kelly speaks to Data and Investigations Editor Harriet Clugston about the food price crisis.

Data shared by the Office for National Statistics is not revealing the full scale of the problem for people on lower incomes. Over the past three months Harriet has been tracking the price of value brands across five supermarkets - Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Aldi.

Earlier this year food campaigner Jack Monroe tweeted about how inflation figures don’t capture the impact on poorer households. This went viral and much research conducted by other organisations including NationalWorld and the experience of charities such as Feeding Britain and the Trussell Trust has borne this out.

In the podcast we hear from Andrew Foresay, National Director of Feeding Britain, who agreed that Jack’s assertion was correct: “We have huge concerns both around people’s ability to afford and access nutritious and decent food and also the ability they have to store that food and prepare it at home.

“We’re hearing from families who have disconnected their fridges and freezes, who are frightened even to use their cooker to prepare food and in some cases people are unscrewing or removing light bulbs to try and save every penny they can on gas and electricity. So the concern is two-fold on how to actually afford and buy food, and then prepare and cook it at home.”

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Uncovered goes behind the headlines to give you an in-depth look at the stories that matter. On each episode Kelly Crichton is joined by the NationalWorld reporters who are working to bring information to light and hold those in power accountable.

Uncovered reveals the journalistic work that goes into the team’s investigations, and highlights important stories we think you need to know about but have gone uncovered in the wider media.