Tackling Food Poverty
Food insecurity in the UK
- ‘Food insecurity means going without or cutting back on the quality or quantity of food due to a lack of money’
- What are food banks? Food banks are charitable organisations that distribute food to people who do not have enough money to buy the food they need. They are often run by volunteers, faith groups, schools, and other organisations. – pantries/food hubs run in a similar manner but with a small financial contribution from the service users.
- How many people suffer from food insecurity? 14% (11.3 million people) of all UK adults (or their households) experienced food insecurity in th year to mid 2022.*
- Who is at the greatest risk of hunger in the UK? 75% of people referred to food banks in the Trussell Trust network say that they or a member of their family is disabled. 47% of the households experiencing food insecurity included children under the age of 16.*
- What causes the demand for food banks? ‘For most people referred to food banks in the Trussell Trust network, the design and delivery of the social security system are major contributors to their inability to afford the essentials.’
- Food bank demand has risen significantly int he last 15 years – There has been a general trend of rising demand for food parcels in the last 15 years. Trussell (formerly Trussell Trust), an anti-poverty charity that runs a network of food banks across the UK, distributed around 60,000 emergency food parcels in 2010/11. In 2024/25 this had increased to 2.89 million.*
- Statistics taken from the Trussell Trust’s 2023 report ‘Hunger in the UK’
Our food philosophy
The food we grow for food banks comes from our ecological community garden at Wedmore Village Farm. We follow some key principles with the intention of maximising the nutritional profile of the food we grow, minimising greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing biodiversity.
No chemical inputs – we never use artificial fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides or fungicides.
Maximising biodiversity – we create habitat and maximise crop diversity to encourage wildlife and create natural pest-control solutions.
Avoiding fossil fuels – we try to avoid the use of fossil fuel machinery to manage our community gardens.
