You are what you can afford: the privilege of a healthy diet, and the broken UK food system
Taboo on the BusShow Notes
Consider this an expansion to one of my recent episodes: Food as a Status Symbol, where I discussed how food is increasingly becoming a luxury item as it becomes more inaccessible. Today I HEAVILY deep dive the broken UK food system, discussing how healthy eating and foods remain a privilege as opposed to a right amid our current climate. Join in for a discussion about the barriers to healthy foods, food poverty, the appeal of ultra-processed foods, and what the government is trying to do to improve the UK’s diet.
Thank you so much for listening and creating space for this important discussion. Unless something upstream is done to tackle access to healthy, nutritious food then we will see widening health and nutrition gaps between those who can and can’t afford these items.
Some notable references from this episode are: - Food Fight by Stuart Gillespie - Source quoting Wan et al., (2014) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277953615300629 - Broken Plate 2025 https://foodfoundation.org.uk/publication/broken-plate-2025 - https://foodfoundation.org.uk/initiatives/food-insecurity-tracking#tabs/Round-16 - The Guardian article: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/30/obesity-crisis-uk-healthy-food-affordable-government-prices?utm_source=chatgpt.com
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