North-east of England has some of the worst access to cheap and healthy food in the country, states a recent report, highlighting the need to help shoppers on low incomes living in “food deserts” far away from supermarkets.
According to a recent reserach by the University of Leeds and consumer organisation Which?, nearly half the North East was in “dire need of extra support”.
In Easington Colliery the nearest supermarkets are a bus ride away, states from the research, adding that some residents had no choice but to walk to shops up to three miles outside town.
“To get food at a cheaper price they have to go out of the colliery,” a local resident told BBC. “Going by bus or taxi “takes the money out of what they’ve got for food shopping.”
Easington Colliery residents said they wanted to support their local general store to ensure it remains open though it is getting trickier for the local store to survive owing to rising bills.
“It’s generally getting a lot harder to keep your prices down because you have to pass your costs on to the customer,” the local shop owner Darren Johnson told BBC. “You can’t get away from it – it’s either heating or eating.”
A lot of shops in this area have not been able to compete with supermarkets and had been forced to close, thereby leaving residents with the choice between higher prices locally or paying bus or taxi fares in order to reach the cheaper supermarkets.
Residents also had relatively poor access to online deliveries, and were deterred by delivery charges and minimum spend limits, the research states, pointing out the necessity of foodbanks and free school meals in the area.
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