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Today we discuss the widespread issue of inequality of access to fresh and nutritious food. "Food deserts," using Castlemilk, Glasgow, is a vivid example of a community where 15,000 residents lack a local supermarket, necessitating long, expensive journeys for basic healthy items like apples or bananas. Learning objectives include understanding how limited access impacts health outcomes, such as higher rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease in deprived areas. We also examine potential solutions, ranging from community co-ops and mobile food initiatives to government policies like strengthening the Healthy Start scheme and restricting promotions on unhealthy items.
Key Takeaways
- Approximately 1.2 million people in the UK live in areas known as "food deserts," which are isolated due to lacking basic services, even within towns and cities.
- The link between poverty and health is severe: adults in the poorest areas eat almost 40% less fruit and vegetables than the richest, and childhood obesity rates are more than double in deprived areas.
- Healthy foods are often twice as expensive per calorie as heavily promoted, unhealthy, ultra-processed options.
- Community efforts (co-ops, mobile food banks, community gardens) must be supported by mandatory government actions, such as strengthening the Healthy Start scheme and restricting volume price promotions on unhealthy foods.
- The lack of access means that choosing healthy food can become financially impossible for many families, forcing difficult choices between buying healthy food and affording heating.
Discussion: Considering that government promises for essential services like supermarkets often fail to materialize, how can we balance the need for mandatory national policy (like expanded voucher schemes or restricting fast food near schools) with empowering local community-led solutions (like co-operatives or the right to grow food on public land) to ensure swift and sustainable access to fresh food?
Source: Fresh and Nutritious Food: Inequality of Access
Volume 774: debated on Wednesday 5 November 2025
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No outside chatter: source material only taken from Hansard and the Parliament UK website.
Contains Parliamentary information repurposed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0...
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