Rural Britain becoming ‘food desert’ for lower-income families, study finds

New research shows rural Britain is becoming a ‘food desert’ for lower-income families as closure of local shops and poor public transport leave them at disproportionately high risk of hunger and cost-of-living pressures.

The University of Sheffield study estimates that over half of households earning less than £40,000 annually in rural areas struggle to access affordable, healthy food, including fresh fruits and vegetables.

It identifies a stark urban-rural divide, with families in relatively affluent rural areas facing significantly higher food insecurity risks than similar households in deprived urban neighborhoods with high poverty levels.

While only 7% of lower-income households in deprived urban areas lived more than a 20-minute walk from the nearest shop selling fresh produce, that figure rose to 52.5% for households with identical incomes in rural settings.

Food insecurity is defined as poor access to nutritious food due to lack of money or nearby shops, leading to skipped meals and poor diet. About one in eight UK households experienced food insecurity as of February, according to previous data.

‘For “struggling middle” families in rural areas, food security is not just about bank balance but physical and geographical barriers that make navigating the cost of living crisis nearly impossible,’ said Dr Megan Blake, the study’s author, a senior lecturer and food security expert at the University of Sheffield.

‘When a struggling household lives in a “food desert” with no nearby shop and poor quality food options, their risk of food insecurity is over 22 times higher than a household in the same income bracket that can walk five minutes to a budget supermarket,’ she said.

‘It’s not just about being poor. It’s about the environment punishing you for being poor. Ironically, these are the regions that grow the food we eat and are central to the UK’s food production.’

High food and energy costs, the disappearance of village stores, limited public transport and supermarket logistics favoring cities combine to create food deserts and increase food insecurity risks.

‘Village life’ or ‘country way of life’ is not all it’s cracked up to be. Being financially very poor and a lack of access [to food] just do not help, said one rural dweller interviewed for the study.

Food deserts also appear in isolated edge-of-city social housing estates and coastal areas. Community activists in Castlemilk, a Glasgow suburb with 15,000 residents, have for years unsuccessfully campaigned for a large supermarket, typically the best guarantee of cheap fresh produce, to be built locally.

The Sheffield study, based on a survey of 14,158 households in England and Scotland earning under £40,000, says persistent household food insecurity ‘exposes deep cracks in the structural foundations of our communities’ and is linked to poor mental and physical health, stress and social stigma.

The study calls for a national review of areas with poor access to food shops, focusing on rural, post-industrial and coastal communities, and for support for low-cost and subsidized food retail alternatives such as food clubs and social supermarkets.

UK food costs have risen 50% overall since 2021, but prices are significantly higher in food deserts. Research by the South Cotswolds food bank in 2024 found the cost of a basic basket of food up to 62% higher in village convenience stores than in the nearest market town low-cost superstore.

However, the study found food insecurity was not reducible to income alone. While lower-income households in full-time work were far more likely to be above the poverty line than those reliant solely on welfare benefits, both groups experienced similar levels of food insecurity.

A government spokesperson said: ‘Our goal is to build a food system that ensures everyone can access safe, affordable and healthy food.’

‘Through outcomes set out in our Good Food Cycle we are tackling food insecurity head-on, improving access to good food in deprived communities and delivering on our manifesto commitment to end mass dependence on food parcels.’

‘We have already expanded free breakfast clubs, widened free school meals to half a million more children, and proudly removed the two-child limit on benefits, lifting 450,000 children out of poverty.’