The cost of living crisis has made Christmas unhappy. Winter is a tough time for people. Food banks are facing high demand at Christmas. An Edinburgh charity is encouraging the public to donate to food banks this winter. Moreover, rising food prices, energy bills, and Christmas pressure create a higher demand. There is a huge demand for emergency food support, and that demand isn’t declining significantly.
UK supermarkets are selling Christmas dinner vegetables for as little as 5 pence a bag. However, deep festive discounting risks damaging domestic food production, and NFU Scotland calls for an end to aggressive price-cutting. Artificially low prices are not sustainable for any element of the supply chain. Aggressive discounting devalues food, contributes to waste, and widens the disconnect between consumers and the realities of food production.
Cost of Living Crisis: Charity Food Parcels
Winter is a tough time for people. Food banks are facing high demand at Christmas. An Edinburgh charity is encouraging the public to donate to food banks this winter. Moreover, rising food prices, energy bills, and Christmas pressure create a “higher demand”. Laura van der Hoeven is the chief executive of the Edinburgh Food Project. She said that the number of food parcels the charity has delivered has more than doubled since the pandemic. From the beginning of December to Christmas alone, the food bank is expecting to produce thousands of food parcels.
Scotland is expecting to distribute about 2,000 food parcels between now and Christmas. Over the year, Scotland distributed approximately 20,000 food parcels to about 6,000 households. According to the food poverty charity Trussell, 239,500 food parcels were delivered in Scotland between April 1, 2024, and March 31, 2025.
More Emergency Food Demands in Winter: Christmas Adding More Pressure
While this is a decrease from around 265,000 parcels in 2023/2024, the number still remains consistent with the rising trend of food bank usage over the past decade. Over the past 10 years, emergency food parcel distribution in Scotland has doubled. The Edinburgh Food Project runs seven food banks, registered with Trussell across Edinburgh. Van der Hoeven said the number of those seeking food support is higher. There is a huge demand for emergency food support, and that demand isn’t declining significantly. The rising cost of food is having a significant impact on the people seeking support and on the pockets of those who support the charity.
The cost of living crisis is higher during winter. The winter months are a busier time for the food bank. Due to cold weather, energy bills are much higher in the winter. Ofgem also announced in November that a 0.2% price cap increase would come into effect at the start of January. The added pressure of Christmas increases demand for food parcels during the winter months. In the winter, higher heating bills lead to higher energy bills. Therefore, there is a greater demand for emergency food, and obviously, there’s a lot of financial pressure on people at Christmas.
More Expensive Christmas Dinner for Scotland: Higher Energy Bills
The cost of living crisis has changed Christmas Dinner for people. The price of cooking a Christmas dinner has soared by 55% since 2019. SNP blasts the UK Labour Government for its continual mismanagement of Scotland’s energy. Based on energy statistics for Scotland released by the Scottish Government, the SNP said cooking an average-sized turkey in a 2kWh oven in 2019 would’ve cost £1.19, but in 2025 it now costs £1.84.
The party says this highlights the disconnect between Scotland’s massive energy resources and the electricity prices charged to Scottish consumers. Scotland generates double its population’s share of electricity and produced 19.7tWh more electricity than it used in 2024 – the most recent full year on record. Despite this, Scots pay some of the highest energy bills in Europe, with bills expected to rise again in January.
Discounts for Christmas: Risking Food or Helping People?
The cost of living crisis led to more discounts. UK supermarkets selling Christmas dinner vegetables for as little as 5p a bag have been warned that deep festive discounting risks undermining domestic food production, as NFU Scotland calls for an end to aggressive price cutting. Several major retailers have sharply reduced the price of essential Christmas vegetables in recent weeks. Morrisons, Aldi, and Lidl have all cut the cost of key festive produce to 5p per item, extending a trend seen in previous years when discounting intensified during the Christmas period.
Aldi and Lidl ran similar promotions last year. At the same time, Morrisons confirmed that, until 26 December, loyalty card customers can buy a range of vegetables — including carrots, parsnips, Brussels sprouts and swedes — at heavily reduced prices. The union has written to major food retailers across the UK, calling for an end to deep price-cutting on key food products, particularly vegetables, during the Christmas period.
National Farmers’ Union of Scotland: Devaluing Food
In its letter, NFU Scotland said aggressive promotions risk devaluing food, setting unrealistic expectations for consumers and weakening the long-term sustainability of domestic production.
The National Farmers’ Union of Scotland (NFU) described aggressive promotions as a potential risk of devaluing food, encouraging unrealistic consumer expectations and weakening the sustainability of food production in the country. NFU Scotland pointed to the reliance that many supermarkets have found on imported vegetables as another key point on this issue.
The union said this raises broader questions about food security and supply chain resilience, particularly given the availability of British produce. NFU Scotland also reiterated its support for the timely rollout of Fair Dealing Obligations under the Agriculture Act 2020, arguing that future legislation must protect good practice and ensure promotional pricing agreements are fair, transparent, and equitable across the supply chain.
Cost of Living Crisis: Artificial Low Prices
NFU Scotland president Andrew Connon said artificially low prices were damaging for producers and consumers alike. Artificially low prices are not sustainable for any element of the supply chain. Aggressive price reductions devalue food, contributes to waste, and widens the disconnect between consumers and the realities of food production. He warned that horticulture businesses were not protected.
Horticulture production costs are particularly high, and while promotions can sometimes help manage supply, processes and subsequent agreements must be fair and transparent. NFU Scotland was urging retailers to adopt pricing strategies that reflect the true value of food, support fair pricing across the supply chain, and support domestic production.
