Bristol's postcode lottery means life expectancies vary by 14 years across the city

A lack of access to affordable, healthy food in Bristol has been cited as one of the key reasons for variations in life expectancy across the city.

Hartcliffe is the UK's second most deprived 'food desert' where life expectancy is 14 years lower than those living in Hotwells, just four miles away.

Kerry is a mum of two - she lives in Hartcliffe and feels that it's been left behind richer parts of Bristol:

Living in Hartcliffe, Kerry's life expectancy is dramatically different to other parts of the city:

A key reason for this gap is the challenges residents face eating healthily.

Food 'deserts' vs. food 'swamps'

• Food deserts have two or fewer supermarkets for every 15,000 people.

• Average areas have between three and seven supermarkets for every 15,000 people.

• The result is that residents find it hard to access fresh, healthy food - like fruit and vegetables - which has a knock-on impact on health.

• Food deserts are often also food swamps - where the balance is skewed in favour of takeaways and fast food outlets.

Hartcliffe and Withywood are two of the country's most deprived food deserts - where a comparative lack of shops coincides with income deprivation.

47% of people in Hartcliffe don't have access to a car so travelling to the supermarkets is even harder.

How much difference does it really make?

We compared the prices of three household staples - milk, eggs, and lettuce - in a small, local convenience store in Hartcliffe and a big, budget supermarket elsewhere.

There was a clear price difference:

These price differences can make a real difference to health - Kerry spoke to us about how difficult she finds it to get her 5 a day and eat healthily:

With many in Hartcliffe struggling to put fruit and vegetables on the menu, one charity is growing its own. Hartcliffe Health and Environment Group hosts an allotment and a community kitchen, allowing Hartcliffe residents to be involved in growing their own food and learning how to cook for health.

They're hoping it will help with the feeling people have that Hartcliffe is being left behind.

Would cutting costs in convenience stores solve the problem?

ITV News spoke to McColl's, who own Kerry's local convenience store. They pointed out that providing a local service sometimes comes at a higher cost.

The problem is not convenience stores existing, but the fact that access to food varies in different parts of the city.

Lawyers at the University of Bristol have started a campaign to make the Right to Food a part of British law. That would mean reframing access to food, making it the government's duty to provide food for its citizens.

In terms of food poverty, that would mean addressing the root causes of food poverty, as Tomaso Ferrando, advisor to the UN Special Rapporteur on poverty, explained:

What's the solution?

Labour has endorsed the Right to Food and pledged that, if they come into power, this will be on their agenda.

ITV News contacted the Department of Health and Social Care to ask them to comment on the life expectancy discrepancy between Hartcliffe and other parts of Bristol.

They said that food poverty was dealt with by the Department for Work and Pensions. When ITV News contacted them, however, they did not provide any comment but suggested we contacted the Department of Health and Social Care.

Campaigners feel that food poverty is an issue which currently falls between different government departments, which led to calls at the start of the year for the appointment of a Minister for Hunger.