According to recent statistics, one in six Milton Keynes residents struggle to consistently feed their family a healthy diet.
The Trussell Trust reports that more people in the UK than ever before used food banks last year .
Campaign group Feeding Britain said a strategy to ensure that everyone can afford and access food they require is essential.
The Office for Health, Improvement and Disparities show 16% of Milton Keynes residents suffered from food insecurity in 2021.
Food insecurity occurs when people do not have access to enough varied, culturally appropriate food to sustain a healthy lifestyle.
Feeding Britain’s national director, Andrew Forsey, said Rishi Sunak must publish a strategy to ensure people can afford healthy food.
Mr Forsey added that food clubs “have never seen so many people”, including working families, seeking help.
Rachel Bull from the Trussell Trust, said: “Food insecurity is a deeply concerning issue that spans the whole of the UK.
We live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, and yet what these statistics show is that people in the UK are going without essentials we all need to get by.
“We are urging the government to create an ‘Essentials Guarantee’ changing the law to ensure the standard rate of Universal Credit, provides enough to cover cost of essentials such as food.”
Trussell Trust shows 1.3 million food parcels were handed out across the UK in the six months to September.
A 33% increase on the same period in 2021, and the highest number on record.
A Government spokesperson said: “We uprated benefits by 10.1%, also making an unprecedented increase to National Living Wage this month.
This is part of changes already made to Universal Credit, which means claimants can keep more of their hard-earned money. We are also providing record levels of direct financial support for the most vulnerable.”
Source: MKCITIZEN.
