Young mum Lori forced to buy cheap convenience foods for toddler as food prices soar

Lori Armstrong, 20, from Dromore said she is struggling to feed her toddler Chloe healthy meals on her limited budget, as food costs and household expenses, such as gas and electricity, continue to rise.

"Being a single parent and full-time student means I have to be resourceful and make every penny count. From managing household expenses to providing for my young daughter, it's a delicate balancing act that requires careful planning and sacrifices. I strive to give my two-year-old daughter the best start in life, and that includes providing her with healthy and nutritious foods but finding ways to do it by keeping the cost down. However, financial constraints coupled with the rising cost of everyday food items often force us to rely on convenience foods, which are cheaper but not always the healthiest options.”

“I find it’s a constant trade-off between providing my daughter with a healthy diet and prioritising other household essentials such as gas and electricity. Sometimes, I would sacrifice our comfort by limiting heating our home to make sure she has everything she needs to thrive.”

The young mum’s comments come as a new report by safefood found that a two-parent household, who rely on benefits, with two children in primary and secondary school, their weekly food shop is £169 or 45% of their income, with families with teenage children paying an extra £40 per week on food than those with younger children. This represents an increase of 4.3% in their total food basket costs since the research was last conducted in 2020.

The report ‘What is the cost of a healthy food basket in Northern Ireland?’ revealed a food basket for a single pensioner living on their own has increased by 4.9 per cent in the same period and costs them £64 per week, which is 29 per cent of their income.

FSA director for Northern Ireland, Andy Cole said “Tight budgets make it more difficult for households on a low income to eat well, potentially leading to health inequalities. The 2022 Food Basket research adds to an evidence base aiming to shape Northern Ireland’s policies to address food need amongst the most vulnerable in our society.”

Dr Aileen McGloin, director of Nutrition with safefood said: “Average food prices are now at their highest since we started this series of research in 2014. With food shopping being the only flexible household spending, many families are being forced to choose cheaper and often nutritionally poor food items to keep food spending within their means and this is a really worrying trend.

“For all families with children, food is the largest household cost, and this has only been exacerbated by the rises we have seen in inflation in the past 12 months. Foods like meat, fruit, vegetables, dairy, bread, and cereals make up two-thirds of food costs for families and these foods have increased in price between three per cent and seven per cent in the last two years.”

A summary of the report “What is the cost of a healthy food basket in Northern Ireland?” is available to download from www.safefood.net/news