Hunger, Food Charity and Social Policy – Challenges Faced by the Emerging Evidence Base

Abstract

This review builds on issues raised in the themed section relating to household level food insecurity, and the food charity response specifically. It looks at key elements in the development of this body of work and at some of the evidence gaps which remain. In particular, it engages with literature on determinants of household food insecurity with relevance to social policy (for example sufficiency of income), and on research which has examined charitable food responses through the lens of food insecurity. The review is necessarily limited in scope and therefore does not cover other elements of household food insecurity and food charity, including research on nutrition or food skills, or work on food charity operation, food sourcing and reach, for example.