Jan 31st, 2024
3 mins
A new government report has shown that the number of people who are ‘highly concerned’ about the affordability of food has almost doubled in the past three years.
The findings have been published in the Food and You 2 Trends report, which is a biannual ‘Official Statistic’ survey commissioned by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and conducted by Ipsos. The survey measures consumers’ self-reported knowledge, attitudes and behaviours related to food safety and other food issues amongst adults (16 years and over) in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
This is the first of these reports and presents changes in consumers’ attitudes and behaviour between 2020 and 2023.
The report shows that:
- The percentage of respondents who were highly concerned about the affordability of food almost doubled, from 26% in Wave 2 (November 2020 to January 2021) to 51% in Wave 6 (October 2022 to January 2023).
- The percentage of respondents who were highly or somewhat concerned has risen from 75% in Wave 2 (November 2020 to January 2021) to 87% in Wave 6 (October 2022 to January 2023).
- Following a period of stability, reported levels of household food insecurity (which means having limited or uncertain access to adequate food) increased from 15% in Wave 3 (April 2021 to June 2021) to 25% in Wave 6 (October 2022 to January 2023).
- Public confidence in food safety and authenticity has remained high across all waves.
- Public trust and confidence in the FSA have remained high across all waves.
