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

五年前几乎闻所未闻的是，在2014/15年，英国最大的食品银行网络，Trussell信托，分发了超过100万个食品包裹，是2010/11年分发数量的16倍多。鉴于食品银行的使用不断增加，饥饿问题成为英国国内政治辩论的前沿。是福利改革导致饥饿人数上升，还是人们只是在利用新获得的免费食物？人们是真的买不起足够的食物，还是缺乏食物技能的问题？这些辩论表明，关于英国粮食获取不安全的范围和原因的证据有限，阻碍了制定适当的政策和实践对策。我们迫切需要了解这个问题。粮食获取不安全对社会福祉和健康产生深远影响，影响儿童发育和学习能力、心理健康和营养摄入。确定这一问题是否在加剧，是什么推动了其增长，以及人口中的脆弱程度是迫切需要关注的问题。政府机构和非营利倡导团体都呼吁对这一问题进行系统研究。这项研究将填补这些知识空白，并促进对英国不安全食品获取的理解。具体来说，研究的目的是：1。为理解和评估英国的粮食不安全制定一个概念性框架。定量评估粮食不安全的变化及其在英国经济衰退和紧缩时期的决定因素，并将这些趋势与食品银行使用的增加进行比较。首先，我将汇集关于英国食品银行使用的关键辩论和证据，以绘制一个概念性框架，以理解不安全的食品获取及其驱动因素。接下来，我将使用来自公开数据集的数据，包括理解社会（ESRC优先数据集），构建新的粮食不安全指标，使我能够通过经济衰退和福利改革的实施来检查粮食不安全获取的趋势。然后，将这些数据与食品银行使用的趋势进行比较，使我能够检查以下情况的程度：(1)有证据表明，食品银行使用的增加超过了食品获取不安全的增加，这表明“供应商诱发的需求”；或(2)有证据表明，食品银行使用的趋势没有反映出食品不安全上升的程度，这表明存在“隐性饥饿”。最后，我将利用这些调查的数据来了解哪些家庭因素与粮食不安全脆弱性相关，如失业、工资损失和福利改革经验。鉴于这项工作对于解决公众和政策辩论关于增加食物银行的使用的重要性，主要研究目标还包括在英国的政策，实践和学术界产生影响。具体而言，本项目的影响目标包括：3 .通过回答有关粮食不安全加剧的程度及其原因的问题，帮助公共部门、民间社会和公众更好地了解情况。推进旨在解决粮食不安全问题的政策和实践建议。5 .加强对什么是粮食不安全、如何测量和监测粮食不安全以及为什么这样做很重要的理论认识。建立合作研究网络，推进粮食不安全监测与研究。该项目建立在与粮食援助提供者、政策制定者、倡导团体和研究人员的既定关系基础上，这些研究人员包括粮食基金会、乐施会GB、Trussell信托基金会和喂养英国网络成员。知识交流活动包括建立一个利益相关者咨询小组、一个为期一天的粮食援助提供者会议、一个政策制定者圆桌会议，以及一个为期两天的合作研究会议，供研究人员和利益相关者分享研究成果，并为英国未来的粮食不安全问题制定研究议程。

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.