Stress Awareness Month is a time to reflect on how stress appears in everyday life. For many people, that stress is closely linked to something as simple as food.
This year’s Stress Awareness Month theme, #BeTheChange, focuses on taking action – recognising that even small steps can make a difference.5 At FEAST, this means creating welcoming spaces, supporting access to nutritious meals, and building community-based support that can help reduce the stress surrounding food insecurity.
For people experiencing food insecurity, stress can be constant. The uncertainty of not knowing when or what you’ll eat, the pressure of stretching limited money, and the emotional weight that often accompanies it can take a significant toll on mental wellbeing.
As one person experiencing food insecurity shared:
“Food insecurity has impacted my life in many ways far beyond what I thought imaginable.”4
Food insecurity doesn’t just affect what you eat, but how you feel. Research shows that people experiencing food insecurity are significantly more likely to experience anxiety, depression, and poor mental wellbeing.4 Many describe constant worry about food, alongside the stress of managing day-to-day life with limited resources.4
This creates a difficult cycle. Financial pressure can limit access to enough or nutritious food, while the stress of not meeting basic needs can further impact mental health. Food insecurity has been shown to play a key role in the relationship between low income, stress and wellbeing.3 Over time, this can lead to fatigue, low mood, and reduced ability to cope, making a situation even harder to manage.4
Another person with lived experience described this quite clearly:
“The cycle impacts on your ability to maintain a nutritious diet… everything becomes very daunting.”4
Importantly, food insecurity is not simply about individual choices. It is shaped by wider factors such as income, access to food, and cost-of-living pressures.2
At the same time, food is about much more than nutrition. It is closely tied to dignity, identity, and wellbeing. Research shows that people experiencing food insecurity often feel a strong sense of shame and stigma, particularly when needing to access food support.1 These feelings are often shaped by wider societal narratives and can be internalised, leading people to feel that their situation is their fault, even when it is driven by circumstances beyond their control.1
For some, this can become a barrier to seeking help at all.
As one FEAST service user explained:
“I have a carer, but I was skint… when my friend suggested a food bank, I didn’t know how to do it so I didn’t go.”
Evidence shows that feelings of shame can be highest before someone accesses support, often preventing people from reaching out in the first place.1
This highlights an important point: food insecurity is not just about access to food, but about how that access is experienced.
This is where small, practical forms of support can make a difference.
At FEAST, community meals are about more than providing food. They create a space where people can access nutritious meals in a welcoming and non-judgemental environment, connect with others, and feel part of a community.
As another FEAST service user shared:
“The meals are much more nutritious than I would be able to cook for myself at home.”
And for others, it’s about more than the food itself:
“We have a laugh… and the food and community has helped my mental health.”
Moments like these can offer a sense of relief from the stress that often surrounds food insecurity. Research shows that creating supportive, inclusive environments – where people feel respected and have a sense of choice – can reduce stigma and help restore dignity.1
Because while the challenges are complex, change doesn’t always start with large systems. Sometimes, it starts with something as simple as a shared meal, a conversation, or a place where someone feels they belong.
And that can make all the difference.
References:
- Birmingham City Council (2023) Increasing Dignity and Reducing Shame and Stigma: Toolkit for food projects. https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/.
- British Dietetic Association (2020) Food poverty. https://www.bda.uk.com/resource-report/food-poverty.html#download.
- Pepper, G.V. et al. (2023) ‘The importance of food in studying economic hardship and well-being: Does food insecurity mediate the associations between income and stress and well-being in a UK representative sample?,’ Journal of Public Health, 33(5), pp. 1001–1009. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-023-02069-y.
- The Food Foundation (2024) Pushed to the brink: the UK’s interlinked mental health and food insecurity crises. report. https://foodfoundation.org.uk/publication/pushed-brink-link-between-food-insecurity-and-mental-health.
- The Stress Management Society (2026) Stress Awareness Month 2026 – The Stress Management Society. https://www.stress.org.uk/stress-awareness-month-2026/.
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Written by Nadia Gerber