“I don’t have enough to give you guys,” he said, his voice trembling. “I don’t know what will happen next week.”
People across the UK are facing similar problems.
The Blackburn Food Bank in the north of England is hiring more full-time workers as wages are not keeping up with inflation.
Blackburn Operations Manager Gill Fourie said: “People don’t even have gas or electricity to cook,” she said, referring to rising household energy prices projected to rise to £3,500 (about $4,240) a year in October. That’s triple what it was a year ago. But the facility continues to receive support from the community, she added.
Even people in less vulnerable situations had to watch their wallets.
“I want to buy mutti, but I can’t afford it,” said actress Melanie McHugh, looking at a can of tomato sauce at her local supermarket in South London. She said she was going to make shakshuka, a vegetable dish that lasts for days. She chose a cheaper branded sauce.
Even McHugh, who has stopped buying butter, has opted for cheaper brands of chorizo.
“I know I’m lucky,” she said. “But I’ve also noticed that my habits have changed.”
The UK government has allocated £15 billion (about $18 billion) in benefits to the most vulnerable families. Smith, a mother of three, said she gained about 300 pounds this month. She also stockpiles laundry soap, but that doesn’t make her anxious, she said. She gave up her car and started thinking about doing a cleaning job on the weekends.
“That’s not what I want to do,” she said. “But we have to do what it takes to survive.”