Brits Make Changes To How They Shop And Eat Due To Rising Cost Of Living

Over 33.4 million Brits are cutting back on fresh fruit and vegetables and can no longer afford to eat as healthily because of the rising cost of living, new findings show. The results are concerning for both the nutrition point of view and the environment.

The new survey of 2,000 UK adults carried out by plant-based meat company Meatless Farm found that four in five Brits (84 per cent) are concerned about the increasing cost of food and are having to significantly change their food shopping and eating habits with almost two thirds (62 per cent) buying less fruit and vegetables, and lower quality food to get by.  

Nearly half (44 per cent) are worried about how they will afford to eat healthily with shoppers forced to lower their standards - two in five are making the swap to cheaper quality meat (40 per cent), frozen (45 per cent) and tinned (39 per cent) food. 

A third (32 per cent) admit they will fill up on pasta and rice, followed by baked beans (26 per cent) and potatoes (25 per cent) instead of fresh fruit and vegetables.

With 8 in 10 (80 per cent) forced to make changes to how we shop and eat, the research reveals how the cost of living is shaping the nation’s shopping baskets - exotic fruits such as grapes, melon, pineapple, and mango top the poll of what’s most likely to get cut followed by avocados and berries. Even one in five (20 percent) millennials are ditching the popular avocado fruit from their shopping lists.

Morten Toft Bech, Founder of Meatless Farm said: “Cutting down on fruit and veg and replacing this with carbohydrates and cheaper quality meat is not a viable option for the future of our nation’s health, and the findings in this study are concerning for both the nutrition of our nation and the environment.

“The cost-of-living crisis has presented a real red flag for the urgency for a food system that encourages a more balanced mix of affordable quality protein sources and plant-based food so that the nation’s health is not set back.”

The top ten fruit and vegetables Brits are cutting back on:

The news follows the latest statistics released by ONS, which revealed half the adults in Great Britain (44 per cent) surveyed last month said they were buying less food to trim their weekly supermarket shopping.

The survey was carried out by Censuswide for Meatless Farmin July 2022.

Meatless Farm is now one of Europe's fastest growing plant-based mea brands, available in over 20 countries, major UK supermarkets and restaurant chains. The company is on a quest to help our environment, reducing the world’s intensively farmed meat consumption by making accessible and nutritionally rich plant-based meat alternatives made from pea protein. On average, Meatless Farm products use 90% less land and 70-80% less water than traditional meat. The Meatless Farm range of plant-based products is available to buy online through The Vegan Kind - click here to try one of their amazing products > meatless-farm-co.