Food poverty in the UK has reached an all-time high, with food campaigners tirelessly donating their time to initiatives such as food banks. It is suggested that an average family of four in 2018 spent £80 per week on their grocery shop, but this amount is ridiculously high for a large number of families now regularly relying on help to feed their family. Yet, how does this work if a member of your family has to follow a free-from diet? After all, there is no avoiding the fact that gluten-free food is expensive, with bread, pasta and cereals being among the highest culprits on the weekly shop. But, with an increase in the number of people following a gluten-free diet, what impact does this have on an average family’s food bill, and is it possible to spend less?
In our house we tend to spend around £70 per week on food and this covers everything from breakfast to lunch and dinner. I was amazed that we fell under the national average as it hadn’t always been the case, but I suspect that putting a bit of efort into shopping well for less, along with being an old hand at all things gluten-free certainly helped. In fact, after looking at my weekly food shop, I realised that there was still room for adjustment and (with a bit of help from a well-stocked kitchen) I managed to reduce the bill further to just £55, although this did not include cleaning products or toiletries.