Food poverty and primary schools: New understandings of the literature and evidence

Abstract

There is increasing focus on the demand for charitable food provision and its related socio-economic need within public and policy discourse, and across a range of different sectors, including Education. Effective strategies to alleviate hunger and its circumstances require evidence-led policy and practice which are underpinned by careful and critical evaluation of impact. This report was commissioned by the Education Strategy Unit (ESU) of the City of London Corporation (CoLC). It has three aims:

• To review academic and grey literature on food poverty and food insecurity

• To highlight the prevalence and impact of food poverty and food insecurity among primary-aged children in the UK

• To distil current knowledge from a wide range of contemporary sources and generate new understandings of what can be done to better support families and children living with everyday hunger.

The geographical focus of the review is UK-wide to highlight the contextual drivers of food poverty and insecurity, with emphasis placed on the short- and long-term impacts of austerity policies and the on-going cost-of-living crisis. In so doing, it draws on and details the literature relating specifically to primary-aged children and their families, and the role schools and the wider education sector have in the mitigation of hunger.

Over 100 pieces of literature and evidence have been reviewed and synthesised. The report offers a set of key principles and recommendations to support primary schools in responding to food poverty.