Cat food warmed on the radiator… yummm.
Mark Seed now runs a community food project in Trowbridge, east Cardiff.
BBC Wales analysis of new Census data suggests six of Wales’ most deprived communities are in the city.
A charity warns that struggling households do not just appear in areas long associated with poverty and policy needs to focus on people not places.
Trowbridge lies in what Mr Seed calls an “arc of poverty” from east to west of the Welsh capital, with issues endemic in his area.
“I’m still shocked by the fact that we have people who are eating pet food,” he said.
“[There are] people who are trying to heat their food on a radiator or a candle.
“These are shocking kind of stories that are actually the truth.”
“Cardiff is a flourishing city however there are pockets of deprivation which are simply not acceptable.”
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Mr Seed said people were not being paid enough to afford the essentials, with the cost of living crisis pushing prices way up “so that everybody is squeezed or they just can’t afford it”.
“What they are telling us is that they are working every hour they can,” he added.
People in Cardiff 'eating pet food' as cost of living rises t.co/TiJt4NWaT0
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) December 1, 2022
h/t BFD