Ten years of affordable food

Ten years can disappear in a blur, unless you stop and look at what it actually took to keep the doors open. We’re marking a decade of The Bread And Butter Thing with a proper origin story, the uncomfortable money truths, and the moments that turned a local experiment into a national affordable food network. Jane, our co-founder and the numbers brain behind the operation, joins us to talk about the early gamble: cutting costs, losing a salary, and giving the idea just long enough to prove it could stand on its own feet.

We get into the mechanics of a social food redistribution model that protects dignity. Think fresh fruit and veg, a family-sized shop, and a small weekly payment that helps create an independent income stream. We unpack why a hybrid approach matters, with roughly half the income coming from bag sales and half from grant funders, and why some institutions still struggle to understand a charity that behaves like a business. We also talk honestly about holding prices at £8.50 during the cost of living crisis, even when the break-even price would be far higher.

Then we zoom out to the bigger UK food insecurity picture: why good calories often cost more than bad calories, why food budgets get cut first, and what policy could do differently. From business rates that make fresh food easier to sell than vapes, to the “tell me once” idea for accessing support, we explore how prevention beats crisis response and why joining up services could reduce stress, duplication and unclaimed entitlements.