UK Inflation Rises To 3.6%: Author Of 'Feed Your Family For £20 A Week' Says It's No Longer Possible

The basic necessity of feeding your family has become increasingly difficult as inflation rises to 3.6%, new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals.

June's inflation rates saw an increase from May's 3.4% which marks an 18-month high in rising prices since January 2024.

The ONS revealed that fuel and food costs were the primary drivers of the increase, with food prices rising for the third month in a row.

As families struggle to put food on the table, the author of a low-cost cookbook from 2020 has admitted that the prices she indicated in her book wouldn't be possible in today's economy.

'You're not feeding your family for £20 these days'

Author of 'Feed Your Family For £20 a Week' Laura Cooper admitted the recipe prices in her cookbook are no longer realistic given the drastic increase in food costs in the five years since its release.

'It used to be people needed help to get through a tough spot, the odd month. Increasingly now it's every month,' she told the BBC. 'There's nowhere to go. There's not enough money to get to the end of the month to pay everything and buy your food,' she added.

In a book from 2019, Cooper shared a £160 ($214) grocery list of basic items that could cover you for eight weeks. Today, she estimates that list would cost 71% more at £272.38 ($365).

'It's a big jump,' she told the BBC. 'I don't know anyone whose wages have increased by 71%.'

Food and Energy Increases Hit Families Hardest

Food and energy prices are what families pay the most attention to since they're largely unavoidable costs.

The ONS reported the 12-month inflation rate for food and non-alcoholic beverages as 4.5% in June 2025.

'This was the third consecutive increase in the rate. It is the highest recorded since February 2024, but is well below the peak seen in early 2023,' the report stated.

In June, bread, cereal, meat, milk, cheese, and egg costs were up.

Beef and chicken were particularly strong drivers in the inflation bump, with beef prices increasing by 30.5% since June 2024, Farming UK reported from the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers (AIMS) update.

Chicken saw an annual increase of 8.95%, although drumsticks, wings, and legs prices were reasonably stable.

'Looking at chicken, the 'ALDI price match' probably drove the price for chicken wings down as they exited June 5.5% cheaper than in May,' said Tony Goodger, head of communications at AIMS.

Supermarkets Warn Of Food Prices Remaining High

A grocery business in Northern Ireland said there would be 'no respite for the consumer' as they expect food prices to stay high for the remainder of 2025.

The Henderson Group's chief financial officer Neil Gamble said he expected a further increase in food costs. 'We think we are going to see that trend of rising prices continue, which is a real disappointment to us. We could see that trend going as far as 5% between now and the end of the year,' he told the BBC.

However, Gamble found that while consumers were shopping less frequently, they were actually buying more.

'The consumer is visiting the store less often, but buying more,' he said, explaining, 'That's typical of a cost conscious and waste conscious consumer, living through a cost of living crisis.'