An analysis of repeat food bank use and development of an ‘opportunity pathways’ framework

This commentary presents findings from a research project investigating repeat food bank use in Nottingham, UK. The research was commissioned to explore reasons for repeat food bank use and identify gaps in non-food support. The research found that the drivers for food bank use in Nottingham are a combination of complex financial and personal factors, typically not addressed at wider community and systems levels. These factors were similar for repeat and one-off food bank guests. The referral system adopted by food banks for repeat use was critical, alongside the approach taken by food bank referrers. For these reasons, repeat food bank use is challenging to define and interpreted differently across the city. Our study concluded that repeat food bank use is not a useful metric for planning a response to food insecurity and should not be the focus of public or policy discourse. Our findings support calls for a more holistic approach to food aid that move beyond crisis support and constraining repeat use and, instead, shifts attention to structural solutions: restoring adequate social safety nets and investing in bringing people closer to employment and/or volunteering. Our recommendations centre on the need to embed ‘more-than-food’ interventions, which address a broader set of environmental, economic and social challenges. To facilitate a more-than-food approach we propose an ‘opportunity pathways’ framework, which offers a more consistent, place-based approach to tackling food insecurity, and is based on four interlocking and successive stages: (1) food relief, (2) social capital, (3) wellbeing (4) opportunities and security

Focus group · Food insecurity · Food safety · Food security · Food systems · Set (abstract data type · Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations · Organic Food and Agriculture · Urban Agriculture and Sustainability