Pilot areas named for new food insecurity project in Scotland
I was pleased to announce the three areas that will take part in a new project tackling food insecurity at an event at the Scottish Parliament.
The project will work intensively with local groups in Dundee, East Ayrshire and Fife.
The three areas will work to deliver a unique project that is piloting new preventative and rights-based approaches to cut the number of people turning to food banks.
The project – called ‘A Menu for Change: Cash, Rights, Food’ – is a partnership between Oxfam Scotland, Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland, Nourish Scotland and The Poverty Alliance. The four organisations have come together to help reduce the need for and reliance on emergency food aid across Scotland.
The project will focus on ensuring more people access statutory and cash-based crisis support, including the Scottish Welfare Fund, as well as debt minimisation. It will also promote alternative, dignified ways of supporting those who are food insecure, such as community cafes and food cooperatives.
Latest figures show a growing hunger problem in Scotland, with the number of emergency food aid packages handed out by the Trussell Trust increasing by more than 900 percent in the three years up to 2015/16. However, these figures are only the tip of the iceberg, with the true scale of household food insecurity in Scotland still unknown due to a lack of available data on people who use other crisis services or skip meals instead of going to food banks.
The people of Scotland have responded incredibly generously to help their neighbours who are struggling to put food on the table, whether volunteering or donating to a food bank. However the reality is food banks were never intended as a long-term solution to hunger and they should not become an entrenched part of our social safety net. This project offers a real opportunity to pilot alternative approaches to addressing food insecurity. All political parties should redouble our efforts to ensure everyone is treated with dignity, respect and given the support they need to tackle the underlying income crises which have resulted in a surge in food bank use in Scotland.
Notes:
- About A Menu for Change: The project aims to lead and support an evolution in the way Scotland responds to food insecurity by encouraging a shift away from emergency food aid and towards measures which increase the incomes of people facing acute income crises. The project will work with public and third sector groups in East Ayrshire, Dundee and Fife to review and improve existing practice to put cash at the heart of the response. It will also provide practical and financial support to organisations to pilot new services, including the provision of healthy food alongside welfare rights, money advice, and other support services. The project team will share learnings from A Menu for Change across Scotland.
- About The Big Lottery Fund: The A Menu for Change project is funded by the National Lottery through the Big Lottery Fund. The Big Lottery Fund supports the aspirations of people who want to make life better for their communities across the UK. We are responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised by the National Lottery and invest over £650 million a year in projects big and small in health, education, environment and charitable purposes. The Big Lottery Fund Scotland is focussed on helping people and communities most in need throughout Scotland through its five-year £250m funding scheme as well as small grants schemes Awards for All and Investing in Ideas. Since March 2007 Big Lottery Fund Scotland has taken devolved decisions on Lottery spending, the Committee, led by Chair, Maureen McGinn plays a strategic role in the future direction of the Fund in Scotland.
- The Trussell Trust distributed 14,332 food parcels in Scotland in 2012-13 and 133,726 in 2015-16. Trussell Trust, ‘Foodbank statistics with regional breakdown’ https://www.trusselltrust.org/news-and-blog/latest-stats/#fy-2015-2016.
