What seems to be the problem? The population in the UK is not too large.
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The sometimes "heavy-handed" use of benefit sanctions has been partly blamed for the rise of food banks. But what does that mean for the young people at the sharp end?
"I'd love to be able to afford some vegetables, I really would," says 19-year-old Yasmin.
"Being a qualified cook, I'd love to make myself a nice risotto or something. But I'm not rich; I'm not posh. I can't afford nice food."
For the last year Yasmin has been living at the YMCA in Burton-upon-Trent.
She is one of an estimated four million people in food poverty - without enough money to make healthy eating choices.
'It's horrible'
The counter-intuitive reality - particularly for poorer women - is perfectly illustrated by what she says next.
"I've gained loads of weight since I've lived in the YMCA because when I'm not eating my body stores the fat and makes me fatter. And then when I am eating, it's just stuff like rice and cheap stodgy stuff. You can't afford to eat nicely," she says.
It's a familiar story among the hostel's young residents.
BBC News - The young people going hungry in the UK this winter
---
The sometimes "heavy-handed" use of benefit sanctions has been partly blamed for the rise of food banks. But what does that mean for the young people at the sharp end?
"I'd love to be able to afford some vegetables, I really would," says 19-year-old Yasmin.
"Being a qualified cook, I'd love to make myself a nice risotto or something. But I'm not rich; I'm not posh. I can't afford nice food."
For the last year Yasmin has been living at the YMCA in Burton-upon-Trent.
She is one of an estimated four million people in food poverty - without enough money to make healthy eating choices.
'It's horrible'
The counter-intuitive reality - particularly for poorer women - is perfectly illustrated by what she says next.
"I've gained loads of weight since I've lived in the YMCA because when I'm not eating my body stores the fat and makes me fatter. And then when I am eating, it's just stuff like rice and cheap stodgy stuff. You can't afford to eat nicely," she says.
It's a familiar story among the hostel's young residents.
BBC News - The young people going hungry in the UK this winter