Research outputs
Fair Food Futures UK photo exhibition
The Fair Food Futures UK exhibition brings together powerful photographs and stories of food help, dignity and belonging shared by families with children. Come to visit this rare glimpse into the everyday realities of food insecurity in the UK.
Typology map of community food organisations
This interactive map shows organisational models and activities found within the community food sector in the UK, or in other words, a typology, based on research through the Fair Food Futures UK project. It also includes connections and relationships between community food organisations (CFOs) and a range of other organisations and networks. As well as illustrating models, activities and connections, the map includes a series of themes and challenges noted by representatives from CFOs and related organisations.
The map is intended to be read and utilised along with other project outputs, especially the local and national policy briefings. The typology map can be used as a guide or template to aid further CFO mapping work at a local, regional or national level, as well as a resource to inform policy, practice and research in addressing food insecurity.
The typology map was co-produced through participatory research with representatives from CFOs and related organisations in three workshops, as well as being informed by the broader FFFUK project.
The map illustrates the evolving diversity and differentiation of the CFO sector in the UK in terms of models, activities and connections. Rather than a geographical map, it is a conceptual typology of CFO and related models and activities, as well as likely relationships, themes and challenges in community food support. The map enables exploration of a range of likely forms that models, activities and relationships can take, which will vary in practice. The typology map highlights a need to place CFO models, such as ‘food bank’ or ‘food pantry’ into the context of the local and broader food and welfare systems in which they exist.
Please see this briefing document for a more detailed description of the map including how to navigate it.
Tackling food insecurity through different models of community support -National policy briefing in response to the UK Food Security Report 2024
This briefing highlights findings from our research with community food organisations and experts working across the UK. It provides recommendations for policymakers and any other interested parties in addressing food insecurity in families at a national level. This briefing is particularly relevant for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, especially in developing a new Food Security Strategy, as well as the Department for Work and Pensions and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. It is also intended to inform national policy on addressing poverty more broadly, including the government’s Child Poverty Strategy
Data were gathered from interviews and 5 workshops run between October 2023 and April 2024. We interviewed representatives from 36 organisations, including regional and national networks.
While CFOs provide a range of activities and services of value to communities, our research points to a series of significant sustainability challenges, alongside a need for broader policy change and action within and outside of the scope of the CFO sector.
There is an urgent need for action to address the scale of poverty in the UK. National and local government plays a key role in this, especially to support household incomes. Without such action, the challenges noted above and the dilemmas faced by CFOs in seeking to support ever-rising levels of need, are unlikely to be addressed, while levels of food insecurity and poverty are likely to continue to rise.
Tackling food insecurity through different models of local support - Local authorities brief
This briefing is for stakeholders involved or interested in the provision of food at a local level. We draw out early findings on local level community food provision, highlighting examples from Bradford and Tower Hamlets, London.
To build a detailed picture of the community food support system, we carried out a survey of organisations, systems mapping workshops with staff and service users and interviews with stakeholders. Data were collected in Bradford and Tower Hamlets between July 2023 and April 2024.
Our research highlighted the scale and diversity of the sector; different ways to alleviate, reduce or prevent food insecurity; and challenges and uncertainties in the sector.
Our recommendations offer short term strategies, including coordinating provision across local authorities and supporting community food organisations to identify and address people’s underlying needs. Our long-term recommendations include reform of the social security system and focusing on ‘cash first’ approaches.