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

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.