Food insecurity is widespread, severe and systemic for disabled people, evidence to inquiry concludes

Food insecurity* is a “widespread, severe, and systemic” issue for disabled people, with rising food costs a “significant” challenge, according to evidence submitted to an inquiry just as the government released a report on disability benefit reform.

The Disability Poverty Campaign Group (DPCG) said disabled people were being “systematically prevented from maintaining their health” through failed policies, inadequate income, rising living costs, and inaccessible food systems.

The results of a survey it carried out show most of those who responded were unable to consistently afford adequate food, while disability-related costs “significantly reduce” the income available for food.

DPCG is a coalition of disabled people’s organisations, led by Disability Rights UK and Inclusion London, that is working to “end the scandal of disability poverty in the UK”.

It released its survey results as the Timms Review of personal independence payment (PIP) published an interim report that found that PIP played a vital part in enabling many disabled people to live independently (see separate story).

Dan White, DPCG’s co-chair, told Disability News Service yesterday (Wednesday) that the survey provided “a clear warning to policymakers”.

He said: “Disabled people are already facing widespread food insecurity, skipping meals or reducing food portions, with many reporting that disability-related costs leave them unable to afford adequate nutrition and that difficulty affording food has had a negative impact on their physical and/or mental health.

“Any reduction in disability benefits will exacerbate this poverty, worsening health outcomes, and ultimately shifting costs onto the NHS and social care system rather than addressing them.

“Benefits such as PIP should be increased, to reflect the proven extra costs of disability; that should be the reform that the government makes policy.

“Disabled people are not just experiencing poverty – they are being systematically prevented from maintaining their health, and any cuts to financial support will be a catastrophe of health.”

Evidence from DPCG**, including the survey results, has been submitted to the UK Right to Food Commission, which was set up by the Right to Food Campaign, which wants to make access to food a legal right.

The commission is collecting evidence on the causes of food poverty in the UK, and how efforts are being made to improve public health and nutrition.

It will make recommendations for how to achieve the campaign’s demands around food poverty, including calls for universal free school meals, government funding for community kitchens, and action on food security.

The DPCG evidence says that, for many disabled people, good quality food is essential to managing their health condition.

With food prices set to be 50 per cent higher this November than they were five years ago, any further rises “will only further push Disabled people deeper into food poverty”, it says.

DPCG said that disabled people were disproportionately affected by food poverty, with spending on food and energy taking up a larger share of the total spending of households that include disabled people than those that do not.

The Food Foundation found (PDF) three years ago that households with a disabled person were “substantially more likely” to experience food insecurity than those without.

DPCG stressed that food insecurity was about accessibility as well as affordability, with barriers including inaccessible public transport, inaccessible supermarkets, and online shopping delivery costs.

The survey found disabled people experience widespread food insecurity, with rising food prices and disability-related costs, and barriers to accessing food.

DPCG said this has created a “systemic failure” to meet basic nutritional needs.

Three-quarters (75 per cent) of the nearly 100 respondents to the survey said their income did not always cover the cost of the food they needed to stay healthy, including 26 per cent who said it never did.

Eight in ten respondents (80 per cent) said increasing food costs had made it harder to afford food over the past year, while 84 per cent who answered the question said problems with affording food had impacted their physical or mental health.

The survey also found that nearly three-quarters of respondents (73 per cent) had cut the amount of food they ate because of cost pressures, including more than half (55 per cent) who said they skipped meals or reduced portion sizes at least once a week.

And 91 per cent said they faced at least one barrier to accessing food, such as transport difficulties, inaccessible shops, problems accessing online grocery services, and a lack of energy to prepare meals.

The survey also found 89 per cent of respondents said disability-related expenses such as higher energy bills, specialist equipment, transport costs, care needs, and medical expenses reduced the amount of money available for food.

Only around one in four respondents (26 per cent) said they had used a food bank in the past year, but this lower-than-expected figure could be due to barriers to accessing food banks, the perceived stigma of using them, or individuals coping with food poverty by eating less.

Among its calls, DPCG wants to see increases to disability benefits that reflect the real costs of living with an impairment; legal recognition of a right to food; and action to lower disability-related costs such as energy, transport, and disability-related equipment.

It also wants the government to make food security a core part of its health and social care policy; to improve the accessibility of food systems; and ensure disabled people are involved in designing future food policy.

White said: “Food poverty among disabled people is not accidental – it is the result of policy choices that have failed to account for the extra costs and barriers disabled people face.

“The more we hear of food poverty and the longer it takes to address the issue, more and more disabled people will be finding themselves falling into food poverty.

“This is an issue that needs addressing now, and the hope is that the Right to Food Commission will shock the government into finally taking urgent action.”

*The UN says a person is food insecure when they “lack regular access to enough safe and nutritious food for normal growth and development and an active and healthy life”

**The report submitted to the commission was written by DPCG co-chairs Dan White and Julia Modern