Articles and Blogs
New report on local food insecurity measurement and monitoring released
A new report by the FILL (Food Insecurity Monitoring at the Local Level) Consortium has been released on local food insecurity measurement and monitoring. This briefing reports on findings from a workshop held in June 2022 that brought together over 70 stakeholders...
What impact does the benefits cap freeze have on the UK’s poorest households?
As the cost of living rises in the UK and inflation food price rises to a 14-year high, the poorest households in the UK are still being subjected to a cap on benefits. This cap, introduced in 2013 by the coalition government, aimed to incentivise people to get into...
Why are the government not treating the cost of living crisis like a crisis? Comparing government interventions for the cost of living crisis to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the cost of living in the UK soaring and inflation reaching a 40 year high, why is there a distinct difference in the way the government has approached this crisis compared to the COVID-19 pandemic? What is the cost of living crisis? The Big Issue defines a...
The poorest fifth of UK households would need to spend 47% of their disposable income on food to achieve a healthy diet reports The Food Foundation
The Food Foundation’s flagship Broken Plate report released this month highlighted the inaffordability and inaccessibility of a healthy diet for the poorest 20% of UK households, emphasising the impact of the cost of living crisis. The Broken Plate report examines the...
Food Foundation releases figures highlighting the impact of the cost of living crisis on food insecurity in the UK
Latest figures from the Food Foundation see a 57% jump in the proportion of households cutting back on food or missing meals in just three months. The Food Foundation has been commissioning a series of YouGov surveys since the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak to regularly...
What impacts are unemployment and the Coronavirus Job Retention scheme having on food insecurity in the UK?
In partnership with the Food Foundation, we have published a new research brief examining rates of food insecurity among working-age adults over the COVID-19 crisis by their employment status. The report examines how rates of food insecurity compared between...
Covid-19 and food insecurity: what research evidence does the frontline need? And what can we learn? Part 2
Earlier in the pandemic our thoughts turned to the research support we could offer those working on the frontline, discussed in our previous blog. The extraordinary times continue to throw up challenges and force adaptations to the systems in place to support people...
Guest Blog: Questioning the role of religious faith in UK food provision
Stephanie Denning, Andy Williams, Maddy Power, Charlie Pemberton and Phil Cullen led the ‘Questioning the role of religious faith in UK food provision’ workshop at the recent ENUF Food and Poverty Conference. Here, they share some of the key conversations from the...
Guest Blog: Food insecurity research conference – learning from across the globe
Kim Newstead and Jacqui McDowell, Senior Health Improvement Officers at Public Health Scotland joined us for the recent Food and Poverty conference. Here, they provide some of their reflections. We recently attended the second ENUF (Evidence and Network on UK...
Covid-19 and food insecurity: what research evidence does the frontline need? And what can we learn?
Research has many purposes, to learn, to evidence, to inform and to, hopefully, change. As researchers exploring problems of insecure food access in the UK, many of us are questioning how we can engage and meaningfully contribute to tackling the rising problem of food...