Food banks are a particular type of voluntary sector organization that bridges the government sector, private sector, and civil society. This special issue of Voluntas adds to the stream of research on the role of food banks in addressing food insecurity in high-income countries. We begin by outlining the concept of food insecurity and a number of direct responses to alleviating food insecurity at the household and individual level by governments and the voluntary sector. We then look at the potential and limitations of food banks in addressing food insecurity in high-income countries, distinguishing between anti-hunger research and research framed as addressing community food security. Based on the set of seven papers included in this special issue, we call for further research that bridges both these approaches.

Food banks have become the first line of response to problems of hunger and food insecurity in affluent nations. Although originating in the USA, food banks are now well established in Canada, Australia, and some Nordic countries, and they have rapidly expanded in the UK and other parts of Europe in the past two decades. Defined by the mobilization of food donations and volunteer labor within communities to provide food to those in need, food banks are undeniably a response to food insecurity, but their relevance to this problem is rarely assessed. We drew on data from the 2008 Canadian Household Panel Survey Pilot to assess the relationship between food bank use and household food insecurity over the prior 12 months and examine the interrelation between food-insecure households’ use of other resource augmentation strategies and their use of food banks. We found that most food-insecure households delayed bill payments and sought financial help from friends and family, but only 21.1% used food banks. Food bank users appeared to be more desperate: They had substantially lower incomes than food-insecure households who did not use food banks and were more likely to seek help from relatives and friends and other community agencies. Our findings challenge the current emphasis on food charity as a response to household food insecurity. Measures are needed to address the underlying causes of household food insecurity.

We report qualitative findings from a study in a multi-ethnic, multi-faith city with high levels of deprivation. Primary research over 2 years consisted of three focus groups and 18 semi-structured interviews with food insecurity service providers followed by focus groups with 16 White British and Pakistani women in or at risk of food insecurity. We consider food insecurity using Habermas’s distinction between the system and lifeworld. We examine system definitions of the nature of need, approved food choices, the reification of selected skills associated with household management and the imposition of a construct of virtue. While lifeworld truths about food insecurity include understandings of structural causes and recognition that the potential of social solidarity to respond to them exist, they are not engaged with by the system. The gap between system rationalities and the experiential nature of lay knowledge generates individual and collective disempowerment and a corrosive sense of shame.

The COVID-19 pandemic intensified food insecurity (FI) and stress for many pregnant individuals, which may have contributed to adverse fetal developmental programming. This study aimed to identify key social determinants of health associated with pandemic-related FI and stress, and their association with gestational weight gain (GWG) and newborn birth weight in a Canadian pregnant cohort. Data were collected retrospectively from 273 pregnant individuals who delivered infants in Canada during the pandemic (March 2020–March 2023). Validated questionnaires were used to assess FI and pandemic-related stress, and GWG and infant birth weight were self-reported. FI was experienced by 55.7% of the participants, while 33.7% and 19.7% reported heightened stress related to COVID-19 infection and pregnancy preparedness, respectively. Participants from food-secure and food-insecure households differed significantly in parental structure, age, sexual orientation, housing status, household income, number of children in the household and pregnancy planning (all p values < 0.01). Heightened stress for both pregnancy preparedness and COVID-19 infection was also significantly associated with these same factors (all p values < 0.05) but not for age and housing status. FI and heightened stress were not associated with GWG outside the recommended range. However, significantly higher likelihood of birth weight extremes was observed with heightened COVID-19 infection-related stress (OR, 95% CI 1.50, 1.05–2.12, p = 0.02) and pregnancy preparedness-related stress (1.60, 1.10–2.31, p = 0.01), but not with FI. These findings underscore the influence of psychosocial factors on FI and stress during pregnancy, which may negatively impact infant health outcomes during the pandemic.

Longer life expectancy and growing income inequality have prompted an increasing interest in understanding the impact of ageing on nutritional requirements in order to optimise intakes, increase the number of years lived in good health and reduce morbidity and associated health and social care costs. Food insecurity reduces access to nutritious and healthy food. Understanding the evidence base on the impacts of food insecurity and the maintenance of food security for older people is crucial to informing policy and intervention. The increase in numbers of older people experiencing food insecurity is a public health emergency and is associated with under and malnutrition. Food insecurity can be experienced at any stage of the life course but has been more widely studied with families and children where poverty is a major driver. Food insecurity in later life has been less well explored by academics, but differs from that experienced in earlier years due to additional complexities, as physical and cognitive health amplify the impact of poverty. Additionally, factors which can appear to be relatively small in impact can act in a cumulative way to push people towards food insecurity. This review will draw on research about older people’s food practices, contexts and experiences in relation to food insecurity in later life and offers a model of food insecurity that has the potential to guide focused public health efforts in order to support the older population to be food secure.

The aim of this study was to examine the potential mediating role of intuitive eating in the relationship between food insecurity and adherence to the Mediterranean diet. A total of 1039 adults aged between 20 and 64 years living in Niğde, Türkiye, were evaluated using a questionnaire. The questionnaire included items on participants’ general characteristics, dietary habits, the Household Food Security Survey Module – Short Form, the Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener and the Intuitive Eating Scale-2. Intuitive eating was found to play a partial mediating role in the relationship between food insecurity and adherence to the Mediterranean diet. Food insecurity was directly and negatively associated with adherence to the Mediterranean diet, and this association remained significant even after the inclusion of intuitive eating as a variable in the model. In conclusion, food insecurity was found to negatively affect adherence to the Mediterranean diet not only directly but also indirectly by weakening intuitive eating skills. Interventions aimed at promoting intuitive eating may help mitigate unhealthy dietary behaviours associated with food insecurity; however, improving food access and living conditions remains essential for a long-term solution.

Suicidal ideation not only indicates severe psychological distress but also significantly raises the risk of suicide, whereas food insecurity may further increase this risk. To examine the relationship between food insecurity and suicidal ideation, we used the NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) data from 2007 to 2016. The association between the risk of suicidal ideation and food security status was examined using multivariate logistic regression models. To ensure the robustness of our findings, we also conducted subgroup and sensitivity analyses, which were crucial for assessing the consistency and precision of the research findings. This study included 22 098 participants, of whom 50·30 % were female and 49·70 % were male. In the comprehensive analysis of the population, after full adjustment, the OR were 1·14 (95 % CI 0·89, 1·46) for marginal food security, 1·40 (95 % CI 1·12, 1·76) for low food security and 1·59 (95 % CI 1·27, 1·99) for very low food security. In the subgroup analysis, we identified a significant interaction between depression and food security (P = 0·004). Additionally, the results of the sensitivity analysis were consistent with previous findings. Our study revealed that food insecurity significantly increased the risk of suicidal ideation, emphasising the importance of addressing food security to improve mental health. These findings support the need for national food assistance programmes integrated with mental health services. More longitudinal studies are needed to validate the long-term impact of food insecurity on suicidal ideation to optimise intervention measures and policy adjustments.

During the global recession of 2020 food insecurity increased substantially in many countries around the world. Fortunately, the surge in food insecurity quickly came to a halt as the world economy returned to its positive growth path, despite double-digit domestic food inflation in most countries. To shed light on the relative importance of income growth and food inflation in driving food insecurity, we employ a heterogeneous-agent model with income inequality, complemented by novel cross-country data for the period 2001–2021. We use external instruments (changes in commodity terms-of-trade, external economic growth, and harvest shocks) to isolate exogenous variation in domestic income growth and food inflation. Our findings suggest that income growth is the dominant driver of annual variations in food insecurity, while food price inflation plays a somewhat smaller role, aligning with our model predictions.

This paper contends that the intractability of food insecurity as a social policy issue may have arisen in part because food access has become central to the interpretation of what is required to be food secure. We revisit key features of the evolution of the right to food and examine developments in the instruments used to monitor right to food progress. We articulate how the materiality of food access has come to the forefront of food systems policy, within which food insecurity is embedded but its structural underpinnings are lost. In turn, civil society food-based responses to growing food insecurity prevalence prevail. The pre-eminence of objectified food access as a socio-political orientation to food insecurity has refabricated the social problem of food need. A conscious uncoupling of food access from how we study and respond to food insecurity is needed to re-design food insecurity policy that is grounded in poverty alleviation.

A Rank Forum was convened to discuss the evidence around food insecurity (FIS), its impact on health, and interventions which could make a difference both at individual and societal level, with a focus on the UK. This paper summarises the proceedings and recommendations. Speakers highlighted the growing issue of FIS due to current economic and social pressures. The health implications of FIS vary geographically since food insecure women in higher income regions tend to be living with overweight or obesity, in contrast to those living in low-to-middle-income countries. This paradox could be due to stress and/or metabolic or behavioural responses to an unpredictable food supply. The gut microbiota may play a role given the negative effects of low fibre diets on bacterial diversity. Solutions to FIS involve individual behavioural change, targeted services and societal/policy change. Obesity-related services are currently difficult to access. Whilst poverty is the root cause of FIS, it cannot be solved solely by making healthy food cheaper due to ingrained beliefs, attitudes and behaviours in target groups. Person-centred models, such as Capability-Opportunity-Motivation Behavioural Change Techniques and Elicit-Provide-Elicit communication techniques, are recommended. Societal change or improved resilience through psychological support may be more equitable ways to address FIS. They can combine with fiscal or food environment policies to shift purchasing towards healthier foods. Policy implementation can be slow to enact due to the need for strong evidence, consultation and political will. Eradicating FIS must involve co-creation of interventions and policies to ensure a consensus on solutions.