Ending the food bank paradox

Britain’s food insecurity crisis was worsening before we’d heard of covid-19. In the year up to March 2020, Trussell Trust food banks had distributed 1 909 156 emergency food parcels across the UK.1 This accounted for a fraction of wider food insecurity—according to the Department for Work and Pensions Family Resources Survey, 43% of households on Universal Credit reported severe or moderate food insecurity in that same year.2 In January 2020, the Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN) revealed that food banks in Scotland had distributed 1,000 emergency food parcels a day over the previous 18 months.3