Food Poverty and Charity in the UK: Food Banks, the Food Industry and the State
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Food Poverty and Charity in the UK: food banks, the food industry and the state Pat Caplan – May 2020 ISBN: 978-1-913380-25-0 (Print) ISBN: 978-1-913380-26-7 (Electronic PDF) First published in Great Britain 2020 by Goldsmiths University of London, New Cross, London SE14 6NW. ©Goldsmiths, University of London / Pat Caplan All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the permission of the publishers or the authors concerned. Page 2 of 93 Food Poverty and Charity in the UK: food banks, the food industry and the state Pat Caplan Contents Contents ............................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. 7 Executive Summary ............................................................................................................. 8 Preamble: The context for this Report .................................................................................................10 Acronyms ................................................................................................................................................................... 11 Glossary ...................................................................................................................................................................... 11 Chapter 1. Encountering food poverty in the UK: Issues, background and methods . 12 Background .........................................................................................................................................12 The Trussell Trust (www.trusselltrust.org) ................................................................................................................. 13 Independent food banks ............................................................................................................................................ 14 Methods: how the research was conducted .........................................................................................15 Investigating the field and the literature ................................................................................................................... 15 Fieldwork methods..................................................................................................................................................... 16 Case studies ........................................................................................................................................17 How the research developed ..................................................................................................................................... 18 Research for whom? .................................................................................................................................................. 18 Chapter 2. An urban area in north London ...................................................................... 20 Background .........................................................................................................................................20 Case Study 1. The Hub: a community centre on a ‘regenerating’ council estate ........ 21 The area .............................................................................................................................................21 Page 3 of 93 Food Poverty and Charity in the UK: food banks, the food industry and the state Pat Caplan The Hub Community Centre ....................................................................................................................................... 21 Learning about poverty .............................................................................................................................................. 23 Problems with benefits .............................................................................................................................................. 24 Housing and regeneration .......................................................................................................................................... 24 Living with food poverty ............................................................................................................................................ 27 Using food banks ........................................................................................................................................................ 29 The Holiday Lunch scheme ......................................................................................................................................... 32 Summary .................................................................................................................................................................... 32 Case study 2: The Trussell Trust Food Bank at St. Nicholas: ‘Effective inefficiency’ . 33 History of St. Nicholas FB .....................................................................................................................33 Clients and their reasons for visiting the food bank .................................................................................................. 35 Donors: How the food bank obtains food .................................................................................................................. 37 What volunteers do.................................................................................................................................................... 38 The volunteer experience: motives for helping and explanations for food poverty ................................................. 40 Summary .................................................................................................................................................................... 41 Chapter 3. West Wales: food poverty and food banks in small towns and rural areas ............................................................................................................................................. 43 Background: poverty in Wales .............................................................................................................43 Case Study 3: The Riverside Citizens’ Advice Bureau (CAB) ........................................ 44 Summary ............................................................................................................................................47 Case Study 4. Riverside TT food bank: ‘desperate for more’ ........................................ 47 Clients ................................................................................................................................................52 Surplus food and the ‘giveaway’ ................................................................................................................................ 53 Page 4 of 93 Food Poverty and Charity in the UK: food banks, the food industry and the state Pat Caplan Summary .................................................................................................................................................................... 54 Chapter 4. Two food banks making changes .................................................................. 55 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................55 Case study 5: The West Wales Trussell Trust Food Bank: from food bank to community cafe ................55 Food bank days and talking to clients ..................................................................................................55 Managers and volunteers ....................................................................................................................57 Changes at the Food Bank .......................................................................................................................................... 58 Summary .................................................................................................................................................................... 61 Case Study 6. Patch (Pembrokeshire Action to Combat Hardship), an independent food and basics bank: helping and giving back ............................................................. 61 Visit to Patch: Extracts from notes taken in August 2017 ......................................................................63 Volunteers .................................................................................................................................................................. 64 Clients ......................................................................................................................................................................... 65 Summary .................................................................................................................................................................... 66 Chapter 5. Food surplus and food poverty: the role of the food industry .................... 68 FareShare and the Food Cloud .............................................................................................................68 Supermarket managers and the Food Cloud ............................................................................................................. 70 Case study 7: A community café in West Wales: