A RECENT report commissioned by Devon County Council has highlighted the extent and experience of food insecurity across the county.
Far too many people in the UK have experienced food insecurity at some point, but the pandemic has given it a greater amount of public awareness as National figures, such as footballer Marcus Rashford, highlighted campaigns to end food insecurity.
Food insecurity is defined as a lack of financial resources to ensure reliable access to meet dietary, nutritional and social needs.
It can range from worrying you may not be able to get enough food, to not eating anything in a day.
The pandemic has without doubt increased the number of people facing food insecurity.
The reasons behind food insecurity are complex, usually put down to lack of income, but physical and mental health, ethnicity, household numbers and location can also have an impact.
The pandemic has deepened the financial hardship faced by many families, but food insecurity has existed long before the pandemic hit.
Across Devon a staggering one in ten households are experiencing substantial disruptions to eating patterns.
This figure is higher than the national average of 4% or across the South West average of 3%.
There is strong evidence that people in Devon have been hit harder by the pandemic. This can be explained by the prevalence of low paid, seasonal tourism work in which local economies are built on, low pay and insecure work is the main reason people face food insecurity.
Devon households with children are also more likely to experience food insecurity.
The report commissioned by Devon County Council, only highlights the extent to which food insecurity exists in Devon and some of the causes behind it.
But disappointingly does not offer any suggested solutions to tackle the issue of food insecurity, or the reasons in which families experience food insecurity.
By far the biggest reason families face insecure access to food is low pay or insecure work. Workers should be paid a decent wage so that they can afford to feed themselves and their families without worry.
Zero hours contracts are common in some of the biggest sectors employing in Devon, many workers on zero hours contracts who were furloughed during the pandemic would have been paid based on average monthly earnings.
When working people do not earn enough to ensure access to food, something is seriously wrong.
Those claiming benefits are also more likely to suffer from food insecurity, during the pandemic claimants were given an extra £20 a week.
But the government is set to scrap this uplift in the coming months.
This will likely mean more people are pushed into situations in which they cannot feed their families, many of these are also working people.
Support does exist for those facing food insecurity, such as food banks. Food banks are set up to provide a temporary solution to families struggling to access food.
The truth is that far too many people face permanent food insecurity. This needs to change.