People have been eating potatoes in much worse economic conditions and with much lower technological sophistication than we have now.
Indeed, it’s probably cheaper to boil a potato now than at any point in history. Are people these days really suffering more than Irish or Eastern European peasants 200 years ago?
If you’re in a tower block, I’m sure a neighbour would oblige you, or if they were also needy, you could boil their potatoes in exchange for helping you keep your clandestine cookery secret.
TFA is about cooking with gas stoves. If your income was marginal a few months ago, then you can't afford the increase in gas prices. To switch to "lower technological sophistication" would likely get them thrown out of their homes.
If you've got electricity, and a microwave, it would be safer. But a lot of poor people can't afford those. Living at the margins means you have no room for any kind of unexpected cost.
Saving journalism is a large task.
There's always this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Ws