Tackling food poverty

Food poverty is a challenge that we must work together to tackle. Food insecurity is the biggest risk factor for early deaths worldwide and leads to 1 in 7 deaths in Britain every year.

Throughout the UK, pioneering communities at every scale, from community groups through to entire city regions, have recognised the role food can play as a catalyst for change in addressing key social, economic and environmental challenges.

Food partnerships have emerged in our cities with them being supported and connected through the national Sustainable Food Places network.

Urban farms and gardens are changing the way people access food and open spaces in cities. Groups are working together to address food poverty – not just the emergency need, but the wider systemic issues, driving patterns seen in the lack of access to good, nutritious food.

In many cases, a lot of this work has sprung from grassroots initiatives with communities taking their relationship with food and right to good food, into their own hands.

Increasingly, partnerships between different sectors of the community, civil society, business and universities have developed to bring a more integrated approach to designing together a resilient and fair local food system.

Across the N8 AgriFood programme, there is already a breadth of collaborative research with community, voluntary and third sector groups tackling food poverty. This research aims to impact policy and includes:

Working with local food partnerships to embed a sustainable and resilient food culture within the local business and community sectors.
Addressing health challenges around food.
Developing a resilient local food economy from producers through to food citizens.

Research and projects

House of Lords report - Hungry for change: fixing the failures in food

Various N8 AgriFood academics have provided their expertise for this report from the House of Lords Select Committee on Food, Poverty, Health and the Environment.

Food Hubs in the UK: Where are we and what next?

This report has been written for people working in the food system who want to understand the role of food hubs in the UK or to determine whether the model is appropriate for their locality and purposes.

Revitalising Local Economies: How food hubs can help

This document has been written for local food entrepreneurs, third sector workers, policymakers and funders who are interested in strengthening the infrastructure of local food systems.

York Citizen Food Assembly Policy Brief

This Policy Brief gives an insight into the York Citizen Food Assembly which raised awareness of the challenges and opportunities facing the food system in York, and collected people’s views.

Seeking justice: How to understand and end food poverty in York

This report provides a clear picture of food poverty and insecurity in York and the structures causing it, as well as an action plan setting out a way to unlock food poverty for thousands of people in the city.

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