Food poverty and access

Increasingly community food initiatives across Scotland are responding to demands for emergency food aid for people experiencing the most severe effects of food poverty. The provision of emergency food parcels through food banks is rapidly growing.

However, balancing the need for short-term emergency food aid with creating sustainable change for people experiencing food poverty is a rising challenge across Scotland.

In response we will be stepping up our food poverty work: promoting good practice through networking across the public and third sectors, and mapping the extent and growth in food poverty.

Our plan for 2018/19

  • Create opportunities for practitioners, academics and policy makers to exchange learning around measurement of food poverty and explore its impact on policy and practice.
  • Promote a new Health Inequalities Briefing from NHS Health Scotland on Food Poverty.
  • Provide advice and information around food poverty/community engagement/health inequalities within relevant national and regional partnerships.

News and updates

Matter of fact

Posted: August 22, 2018
With the latest Scottish Health Survey results due to include data from the three new food insecurity questions and research work ongoing across the UK, ...

1st World Congress on Migration, Ethnicity, Race and Health

Posted: May 18, 2018
Florence Dioka from Central and West Integration Network (CWIN) and our colleague Jacqui presented the poster below at the 1st World Congress on Migration, Ethnicity, Race ...

Time to Digest

Posted: March 26, 2018
Despite the Arctic conditions and transport systems in chaos, practitioners, policy makers and researchers from across Scotland and beyond met in Glasgow for this latest ...

Cooking skills blog 33: Working with vulnerable groups: Supporting people affected by food insecurity: ideas from practitioners

Posted: June 9, 2017
Last year, Katy Gordon, a PhD student took part in an internship within CFHS. Katy ran an online survey and interviewed practitioners to find out ...

Cooking skills blog 28: How do cooking course practitioners support people experiencing food insecurity?

Posted: March 23, 2017
Katy Gordon, a PhD student took part in an internship within the CFHS programme late last year. She focused on a project on food insecurity ...

Household food insecurity

Posted: January 27, 2017
In December 2016, at Serenity Café in Edinburgh, a workshop was held sharing learning about, and reflecting on, work that is currently taking place in ...

Community cooking groups: supporting people who are struggling to have enough food to get them/their families through the week

Posted: November 8, 2016
Do you run or manage cooking courses within low income communities in Scotland?  Do you sometimes find participants are struggling to have enough food to ...

Community-led research into food security and insecurity

Posted: October 10, 2016
Research reports from our three community partners - Central and West Integration Network, Linwood Community Development Trust, and Borders Healthy Living Network are now available. ...

Food poverty: Measuring, monitoring and making a difference

Posted: February 10, 2016
Following our recent seminar, “Food poverty: Measuring, monitoring and making a difference”, organised jointly with the Rowett Institute, the key speaker Prof Valerie Tarasuk, from ...

NHS Health Scotland’s organisational statement on food poverty

Posted: November 3, 2015
NHS Health Scotland has today published its organisational position statement on food poverty. The purpose of the paper is to outline NHS Health Scotland's position on ...
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  • CFHS Blog

    NEW – we are expanding our blog to include posts on a wider range of subjects. Have a look here .. »

  • Publications

    • The nature and extent of food poverty/insecurity in Scotland
      In October 2014, CFHS commissioned a group of research scientists to consider questions of food insecurity/poverty in Scotland. The main aim of the research was to ...
    • Food Plus in Practice
      CFHS’s new publication about community food initiatives that are working to reduce food poverty through delivering a range of services is now available online. The ...
    • Emergency food aid: a national learning exchange
      This report and summary is the product of discussions that included practitioners, planners, policy makers and academics. Discussions centred around viewing emergency food aid as ...
    • The contribution of community food initiatives to national food and health programmes
      In 2012, Community Food and Health (Scotland) provided funding totalling £15,000 for six community food initiatives to build on their current work with one or ...
    • Study tour to London
      The study tour took place between 1 and 3 October 2013. Ten people took part in a busy two days, which included 10 different visits/meetings ...
    • Far reaching fare
      This publication looks at the role that community initiatives can play in building reach into policy and practice around food access.
    • Footing the bill or thinking ahead
      Notes from a round table discussion held on 31 July on 'constructive food and health policy and practice in the face of austerity'.
    • Meals and messages
      Outlines the main findings from the study together with recommendation for action by the Scottish Government, local authorities and local communities.
    • Hard to Stomach
      Recommendations sought by the Scottish Government from a working group on food access and affordability, supported by CFHS, were sent to Ministers shortly before the ...
    • Focus on food services for older people
      On 25 February Community Food and Health (Scotland) and Consumer Focus Scotland co-hosted a roundtable discussion looking at issues around older people's access to affordable ...