‘Food deserts’ and bad planning letting takeaways be built near community gardens and youth facilities are part of a growing food poverty problem, a conference heard yesterday.

In my family, we’ve always enjoyed our food, and the chance to sit down and break bread together — probably one of the oldest pleasures known to humankind.

EMOTIONS and social pressures around food, coupled with limited budgets are causing food poverty, which now affects just under one in six (15%) of the population.

Eating healthy food should not be the preserve of the well-off, according to a new guide aimed at promoting healthier eating in disadvantaged communities.

SOCIAL welfare and child benefit cuts in the budget will see poorer people buying cheap, unhealthy food and developing long-term health problems, a group campaigning for healthy eating for low-income groups has claimed.