Evidence and Research

The Need

Food poverty and insecurity has skyrocketed since the pandemic and people in poverty have been disproportionately affected due to being more vulnerable to serious disease, loss of unemployment and job insecurity and loss of access to free services.

In addition to the huge increase in food banks and food aid organisations, people in poverty have been hit hard by the cut in universal credit and rise of inflation. A report in January 2022 highlighted that the impact of the pandemic continues to have the worst impact on people who have the least – this situation will worsen once rising energy prices come into effect later in the year. Poverty is also intrinsically linked to poorer health outcomes. There has never been a more urgent need for our work.

Research

Public Health Response to Ultra-Processed Food and Drinks

Growing evidence confirms a link between consumption of ultra-processed food and drinks and non-communicable diseases. Jean Adams and colleagues explore the implications for public health action.

“Evidence shows that greater consumption of home prepared food is associated with improved dietary intake, but less is known about how to increase food preparation at home. However, there are many other reasons why people do not prepare food at home, including lack of time, poor access to affordable ingredients and adequate kitchen facilities, high costs of cooking fuel, and preferences for ultra-processed foods. “

“Most interventions assume a knowledge or skills deficit and focus on cooking demonstrations and classes. However, there are many other reasons why people do not prepare more food at home, including lack of time, poor access to affordable ingredients and adequate kitchen facilities, high costs of cooking, fuel, and preferences for ultra-processed foods”.

Adams J, Hofman K, Moubarac J, Thow A M. BMJ 2020; 369 :m2391 doi:10.1136/bmj.m2391 June 2020

Read full article at BMJ.com

Most interventions assume a knowledge or skills deficit and focus on cooking demonstrations and classes.

However, there are many other reasons why people do not prepare more food at home, including lack of time, poor access to affordable ingredients and adequate kitchen facilities, high costs of cooking, fuel, and preferences for ultra-processed foods.”

The quality of food people eat has a direct impact on their quality of life in a way that they are very much conscious of.

People who have access to good quality, healthy and nutritious food aren’t just physically healthier; they also feel better, about themselves and about their lives, putting them in a much better position to engage with wider services to address the other challenges they face, including low incomes.

Demos – The Power of Food: Community Experiences of Tackling Food Insecurity

Bags of Taste is proud to have participated in this Demos report on the power of food and the role of food producers in delivering a food system that leaves no one behind.

“Current government support for people facing food insecurity, while providing a lifeline to people in crisis, too often fails to provide a pathway out of food insecurity”

“Dignified access to good, nutritious food has a strong and almost immediate impact on the way people feel about themselves. It can create the perfect foundations to build trust, social networks and support people to access other services necessary to tackle the root causes of food insecurity, such as low income or poor health.”

Rose Lasko & Maiyoraa Jeyabraba, Demos, August 2021

Read full article (PDF)

Hungry For Change: Fixing The Failures In Food

Chapter 3: Poverty and food insecurity

“If you don’t have a car, carrying shopping for a week or for a family is hard and even if public transport is available and affordable (which it often isn’t) it requires you to shop little and often.”

House of Lords white paper: 2020

Various contributors, including written evidence from Bags of Taste

Read full article at Parliament.uk

Bags of Taste are proud to have been one of the community partners on this report.

State of Hunger Report

Building the evidence on poverty, destitution, and food insecurity in the UK.

The State of Hunger project was established as a major piece of research to build a much clearer evidence base. The research aimed to develop a robust evidence base on who is affected by hunger in the UK, what factors drive it, and to provide this evidence to inform action to alleviate hunger.

The Trussell Trust, May 2021

Read full article (PDF)

Food and You Survey

Research from Wave Five of the biennial Food and You consumer survey 2018.

10% of adults lived in households classified as marginally food insecure, and 10% reported living in household with moderate or severe food insecurity.

Evidence and Network on UK Household Food Insecurity 2018

Read full article on enuf.org.uk

A Crisis Within a Crisis: The Impact of Covid-19 on Household Food Security

Insights from Food Foundation surveys (March 2020 to January 2021) on how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected food access in the UK.

“Food insecurity was already prevalent in the UK before the pandemic but has been dramatically exacerbated by Covid-19, leaving many people vulnerable to hunger and poor diets. Over the past 6 months (August 2020 to January 2021), 4.7 million adults (9% of all
households) have experienced food insecurity. This includes 1.6 million adults who report having had to go a whole day without eating due to not being able to afford or access food.
Food insecurity levels remain higher than pre-Covid levels of 7.6% over a 12-month period”

Food Foundation March 2020 – January 2021

Read report at FoodFoundation.org

“Food insecurity was already prevalent in the UK before the pandemic but has been dramatically exacerbated by Covid-19, leaving many people vulnerable to hunger and poor diets. Over the past 6 months (August 2020 to January 2021), 4.7 million adults (9% of all households) have experienced food insecurity. This includes 1.6 million adults who report having had to go a whole day without eating due to not being able to afford or access food.

Food insecurity, its effects and ways to address them

In this video Dr Megan Blake of the University Sheffield examines the causes and effects of food insecurity and suggests some of the ways we can act locally to help reduce hunger and hardship and stress and distress in our communities by helping them repair the damage that food insecurity causes.

“Our research shows that moderately and mildly disabled people and children–disproportionately bear the burden of hunger.”

Dr Megan Blake, University of Sheffield March 2021

Watch video at geofoodie.org

The Need

Research

Public Health Response to Ultra-Processed Food and Drinks

Demos – The Power of Food: Community Experiences of Tackling Food Insecurity

Hungry For Change: Fixing The Failures In Food

State of Hunger Report

Food and You Survey

A Crisis Within a Crisis: The Impact of Covid-19 on Household Food Security

Food insecurity, its effects and ways to address them

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