Food insecurity and food aid in multi-faith/multi-ethnic Britain: Advancing research and policy debates

在2018年4月1日至3月31日期间，Trussell Trust的食品银行网络向处于危机中的人们分发了超过130万份紧急食品供应（Trussell Trust, 2018），比2010年增加了20倍（Loopstra et al., 2015）。有证据表明，食品银行更有可能在福利削减幅度更大、失业率更高的地方开设，这表明食品银行的增加是一个需求问题，而不是供应问题。英国的粮食援助和粮食不安全是一个快速增长的研究机构关注的焦点。我的博士研究的是食品援助和食品不安全研究领域中一个被忽视的话题。它研究了粮食援助提供者的种族和宗教特征，以及粮食不安全的规模和经历。它研究了当今意识形态背景下的粮食援助和粮食不安全，质疑不断变化的粮食不安全和粮食援助与更广泛的社会、政治和经济变化之间的关系。在此过程中，它确定了对研究、政策和实践进行两项关键变革的必要性。首先，需要对粮食援助和粮食不安全问题进行更深思熟虑的辩论。这场辩论需要解决不同群体的不同经历，以及在多民族、多信仰背景下粮食援助与政府之间的复杂关系。其次，需要改变提供粮食援助的方式，以确保宗教和少数民族不被排除在外。在处理这些主要发现时，研究金有两个主要的工作领域。第一个目标是扩大目前对粮食援助和粮食不安全的研究。为此，它将开发和发表一种关于粮食援助和粮食不安全的新观点，将有关种族和宗教的社会科学理论纳入关于粮食慈善的辩论。这将涉及到撰写一本单独撰写的书，并在世界领先的期刊上发表一篇进一步的文章（其中七篇已经由博士发表）。本文将在理论框架内讨论博士的研究结果。为了跟进博士学位的研究结果，我将在利兹进行一项小规模的研究，研究那些在博士学位中没有涉及的少数民族群体的粮食不安全经历。这包括其他南亚群体（印度人和孟加拉国人）、黑人群体、东欧人和罗姆人社区的成员。这项研究将为有关粮食不安全和粮食援助方面的种族和宗教差异的更大赠款申请提供信息。这个规模更大的奖学金将利用社会和政治理论，为研究人员开发一个新的理论框架，从而突破粮食不安全和粮食援助研究的界限。第二个关键工作领域将涉及与决策者和实践者合作，以减少地方和国家一级在获得粮食方面的种族和宗教不平等现象。我将与布拉德福德的当地决策者合作，提出简单的建议，以解决当地社区少数民族和宗教少数群体在获取食物方面面临的障碍。这些建议将附有如何实施这些建议的指导方针。为了解决粮食援助中的排斥问题，我将建立一个由粮食援助研究人员和实践者组成的网络，从多信仰/多民族的角度解决粮食不安全问题。该网络将分享有关将所有群体纳入粮食援助的知识和最佳做法。该网络将于4月在约克大学举行为期一天的研讨会。在研讨会上，粮食援助机构将制定促进粮食援助包容性的指导方针。这些指导方针将由主要的粮食援助管理组织公布和分发，包括独立粮食援助网络和英国消除饥饿。作为项目的一部分，我将培养自己的研究和管理技能。这将通过约克大学顶尖学者的培训项目和指导来完成。

Between 1st April and 31st March 2018, The Trussell Trust's food bank network distributed over 1,300,000 emergency food supplies to people in crisis (Trussell Trust, 2018), a twenty fold increase on 2010 (Loopstra et al., 2015). Evidence indicates that food banks are more likely to open in local authorities with greater welfare cuts and higher unemployment rates, suggesting that this increase is a question of demand not supply.Food aid and food insecurity in the UK are the focus of a quickly-growing body of research. My PhD addressed a neglected topic within the area of food aid and food insecurity research. It looked at the ethnic and religious character of food aid providers, and the scale and experience of food insecurity. It studied food aid and food insecurity within the present-day ideological context, questioning how changing food insecurity and food aid relate to wider social, political and economic shifts. In doing so, it identified the need for two key changes to research, policy and practice. First, the need for a more thoughtful debate on food aid and food insecurity. This debate needs to address the varied experiences of different groups, as well as the complex relationship between food aid and government within multi-ethnic, multi-faith settings. Second, the need for changes to how food aid is provided to ensure religious and ethnic minority people are not excluded.In addressing these key findings, the Fellowship has two main areas of work. The first aims to expand current research on food aid and food insecurity. It will do this by developing and publishing a new perspective on food aid and food insecurity, weaving social science theory on ethnicity and religion into debates on food charity. This will involve the development of a sole-authored book and the publication of one further article (seven already published from the PhD) in a world-leading journal. This article will discuss the PhD findings within a theoretical framework.To follow-up the findings of the PhD, I will conduct a small-scale, study in Leeds on the experience of food insecurity among those ethnic minority groups not addressed in the PhD. This includes other South Asian groups (Indian and Bangladeshi), Black groups, people from Eastern Europe and members of the Roma community. This study will inform a larger grant application on ethnic and religious differences in food insecurity and food aid. This larger Fellowship will push the boundaries of food insecurity and food aid research by developing a new theoretical framework for researchers, drawing on social and political theory.The second key area of work will involve collaboration with policy makers and practitioners to reduce ethnic and religious inequalities in access to food at a local and national level. I will work with local decision makers in Bradford to produce simple recommendations to tackle barriers to food access faced by ethnic and religious minority groups in local communities. The recommendations will be accompanied by guidelines on how they should be implemented.To tackle exclusion within food aid, I will develop a network of food aid researchers and practitioners addressing food insecurity from a multi-faith/multi-ethnic perspective. The network will share knowledge and best-practice on the inclusion of all groups in food aid. The network will come together for a one-day workshop at the University of York in April. At the workshop, food aid organisations will produce guidelines on promoting inclusion in food aid. These guidelines will be publicised and distributed by key food aid governance organisations, including the Independent Food Aid Network and End Hunger UK.I will develop my own research and management skills as part of the project. This will be done through training programmes and mentoring from leading academics at the University of York.