Growing need, hidden hunger or supplier-induced demand: a quantitative examination of rising food bank use and insecure food access in the UK.

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Nearly unheard of five years ago, in 2014/15 the UK's largest network of food banks, the Trussell Trust, distributed over one million food parcels, over sixteen-times the number distributed in 2010/11. In light of rising food bank use, the issue of hunger is at the forefront of domestic political debate in the UK. Have welfare reforms caused rising hunger or are people just taking advantage of newly available free food? Are people really struggling to afford enough food or is this a problem of lack of food skills? These debates have revealed the limited evidence on the scope and causes of insecure access to food in the UK, impeding development of appropriate policy and practice responses.The need to understand this problem is pressing. Insecure access to food has profound impacts on social well-being and health, impacting child development and ability to learn, mental health, and nutritional intakes. Identifying whether the problem is increasing, what is driving its growth, and the level of vulnerability in the population are urgent concerns. There have been calls from government agencies and non-profit advocacy groups alike for systematic research on this problem.This study will fill these knowledge gaps and advance understanding of insecure access to food in the UK. Specifically, study aims are: 1. To develop a conceptual framework for understanding and evaluating food insecurity in the UK2. To quantitatively evaluate the change in food insecurity and its determinants through the recessionary and austerity periods in the UK and compare these trends with the rise in food bank use.First, I will bring together key debates and evidence on food bank use in the UK to map a conceptual framework for understanding insecure access to food and its drivers. Next, using data from publicly available datasets, including Understanding Society (an ESRC priority dataset), I will construct novel indicators of food insecurity to allow me to examine trends in insecure access to food through recession and implementation of welfare reform. These will then be compared with trends in food bank use, enabling me to examine the extent to which (1) there is evidence rising food bank use has exceeded rising insecure access to food, suggesting 'supplier-induced demand', or (2) there is evidence that trends in food bank use are not capturing the extent to which food insecurity has risen, suggesting there is 'hidden hunger'. Lastly, I will use data from these surveys to understand what household factors are associated with vulnerability to food insecurity, such as unemployment, loss of wages, and experience of welfare reforms.Given the importance of this work for resolving public and policy debate about rising food bank use, key study aims also include having impact in policy, practice, and academic communities in the UK. Specifically, the impact aims of this project include: 3. To contribute to a better informed public sector, civil society, and public by answering questions about the extent to which food insecurity has increased and its causes.4. To advance policies and practice recommendations aimed at addressing food insecurity.5. To enhance theoretical understanding of what food insecurity is, how it can be measured and monitored, and why it is important to do so.6. To build a collaborative research network to take forward monitoring and research on food insecurity.This project builds upon established relationships with food aid providers, policymakers, advocacy groups, and researchers, who include the Food Foundation, Oxfam GB, the Trussell Trust, and members of the Feeding Britain network. Knowledge exchange activities include establishing a stakeholder advisory group, a one-day conference for food aid providers, a policymaker roundtable, and a collaborative two-day research conference for researchers and stakeholders to share research findings and set a research agenda for food insecurity in the UK going forward.