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Title Growth of Food Banks in the UK (and Europe): Leftover Food for Leftover People

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The Economics of Emergency Food Aid Provision

Abstract

This chapter sets out some of the reasons for the expansion and growth of food banks and food charity. The background is the global economic crisis and the retreat of welfare states in pursuit of ‘low tax, low welfare economies’. This is linked to the portrayal of welfare recipients and the depoliticisation of hunger in favour of individual behavioural explanations. It locates hunger not just as a physical entity but one that is rooted in social and cultural norms and sets up the concept of the ‘new hunger’. The ways that food charities operate which were set out in Chapter 1 are critically examined as successful failures. Finally, we introduce the concept of the ‘right to food’ and the legal ways in which this might be realised.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Available on http://www.newstatesman.com/music/2011/06/interview-food-cheese-nice, accessed 15 December 2017, Lewis-Hasteley (2011).

  2. 2.

    Available on http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/aug/27/jamie-oliver-chips-cheese-modern-day-poverty.

  3. 3.

    See http://www.nicva.org/stateofthesector/volunteers.

  4. 4.

    See BBC website http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41264965.

  5. 5.

    http://www.centerforhungerfreecommunities.org/our-projects/witnesses-hunger, accessed 8 January 2018.

  6. 6.

    www.just-fair.co.uk, accessed 28 January 2018.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Food Policy, City, University of London, London, UK

    Martin Caraher

  2. Ulster University, Coleraine, UK

    Sinéad Furey

Authors
  1. Martin Caraher
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  2. Sinéad Furey
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Correspondence to Martin Caraher .

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Caraher, M., Furey, S. (2018). Title Growth of Food Banks in the UK (and Europe): Leftover Food for Leftover People. In: The Economics of Emergency Food Aid Provision. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78506-6_2

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