There is significant food insecurity in Scotland and to tackle it, the Scottish Government has published Cash-First. This sets out what they will do to improve the response to financial hardship and reduce the need for emergency food parcels. To inform development of Cash-First policies, this case study summarises findings from research with frontline food support workers.
We found that Cash-First is moving in a direction advocated by frontline food support workers, but that greater consensus is required concerning what cash-first and its wrap-around services will include and how they will be tailored to local needs. Our findings also suggest that the ‘community hub’ model, towards which many food support organisations seem to be moving, has potential to deliver, and in many cases is already providing, services envisaged by Cash-First.
Stage
Work CompletedDirectory of Expertise
Purpose
There are significant levels of food insecurity in many high-income countries, including the UK and Scotland. In response, the Scottish Government published Cash-First: Towards Ending the Need for Food Banks in Scotland, which sets out a human-rights-based approach to tackling food insecurity and outlines nine collaborative actions they will take over the next three years to improve the response to financial hardship and reduce the need for emergency food parcels.
To inform the development of policies to deliver Cash-First, this case study summarises findings from a qualitative study with forty-three frontline food support workers from thirty-nine organisations which provide services to people who may be vulnerable to food insecurity. The interviews explored participants’ perceptions of food system disruptions that can result in increasing levels of food insecurity, along with responses that could mitigate them and enhance service providers’ resilience. Interviewees were also asked about the role locally-produced food could play in contributing to food security.
Results
Interviewees reported that large-scale food system disruptions, such as the COVID pandemic and particularly the cost-of-living crisis, saw significant increases in food insecurity. However, they observed that these large-scale disruptions were characterised by multiple and sustained challenges occurring simultaneously. Thus, participants felt that large-scale disruptions exacerbated existing problems and revealed that a significant proportion of the Scottish population, including people in employment, can become vulnerable to food insecurity should there be even small increases in the price of food or the cost-of-living, or small-scale decreases in the amount of money people have to spend on food.
Other disruptions to people’s access to food highlighted by participants included: inadequate welfare support, poor working conditions, and not having access to low cost food retailers.
This research found that the distinction between food banks and other types of food support organisation, such as food banks plus and community hubs, is increasingly blurred. This is partly because organisations understand that supplying free food is not a long-term solution to food insecurity and that a range of support is required to help people achieve and maintain food security. There remain important differences in the mix of services provided, but it is increasingly difficult to divide food support organisations into distinct categories such as food bank, food bank plus and community hub.
Indeed, it appears many food support organisations are evolving into community hubs, providing a range of locally relevant support services along with access to low-cost food, perhaps through a community shop. It was emphasised that community hubs require flexibility to adapt to the needs of their local communities. For example, some participants felt that cookery classes and money advice were of central importance to helping their clients achieve food security, while others viewed such services as unnecessary for and patronising to their local communities. Many participants emphasised that community hubs should become independent of charitable donations and the redistribution of surplus food. Although some felt that both, particularly the latter, may continue to play an important role. Numerous participants also felt that making greater use of locally-produced food could help to provide a more sustainable solution to food insecurity.
In general, participants favoured the adoption of a cash-first approach and improved access to low-cost food. However, interview data indicate that there needs to be a greater consensus as to what is meant by cash-first and what the range of wrap-around services provided should include. Furthermore, many participants felt that government should not provide many of these services directly but should empower existing, locally-embedded food support organisations to deliver them.
The full report, Exploring the perceived impact of food system disruptions on food insecure people in Scotland and what effective responses might look like (64 pp.), is available on request from the research team.
Benefits
The experience of frontline food support workers indicates that even a modest decrease in people’s income or rise in the cost of living can produce a perceptible increase in food insecurity. There was also a widespread view that policies to reduce food insecurity should aim to maximise income and provide a range of support services that will present people with opportunities to develop and mobilise food and money skills and access to information required to manage debts and navigate the benefits system.
This research, conducted before Cash-First was published, indicates that Scottish Government policy is moving in a direction advocated by frontline food support workers. However, in order to maximise its chances of success, greater consensus is required concerning what cash-first and its wrap-around services will include and how they will be tailored to local circumstances.
Although Cash-First aims to eliminate the need for food banks, this research found that many deliver services beyond the provision of emergency food parcels. Food support organisations reported having good relations with the communities they serve and the ability to adapt to local conditions. Thus, the community hub model, towards which many food support organisations seem to be moving, has potential to deliver, and in some cases is already providing, services envisaged by Cash-First.
Project Partners
This research was funded by the Scottish Government’s Environment, natural resources and agriculture - strategic research 2022-2027 programme, and is part of the project Building food and nutrition security in Scotland. The project is overseen by a Steering Group containing policy specialists and organisations involved in providing food support.