Over a million people affected by food insecurity in Scotland
A charity has described the figures as "horrifying"
Last updated 28th Jun 2023
Around 1.2million people in Scotland have suffered from food insecurity in the last year - more than the population of Glasgow and Edinburgh combined.
New research from the Trussell Trust has found that one in six Scots have had to cut back or skip meals.
The charity said its survey results in the middle of last year equated to an estimated 11.3 million people across Britain.
“Just the tip of the iceberg”
The findings were described by the charity – which runs more than 1,200 food bank centres across its network covering around two thirds of the food banks in the UK – as “just the tip of the iceberg”.
Polly Jones, head of the Trussell Trust in Scotland, said: "It's really horrifying to find that one in six people across Scotland are facing hunger, are worried if they're going to put food on the table, have already skipped meals.
"It's a huge number of people, more than the population of the whole of Glasgow and Edinburgh."
Earlier this year the trust reported record food bank use, with those in its network distributing almost three million parcels in the year to April 2023 – the most distributed in a single year and a 37% increase on 2021/22.
What is food insecurity?
The United Nations defines food insecurity as lack of regular access to enough safe and nutritious food for normal growth and development and an active and healthy life, and defines hunger as an uncomfortable or painful physical sensation caused by insufficient consumption of dietary energy.
What did the survey find?
The Trussell Trust’s research consists of a survey of 2,563 people who used food banks across the Trussell Trust network between May and August 2022, and a survey of 3,948 people in the UK general population by Ipsos in the same time period.
The charity said the majority (89%) of people referred to food banks in its network receive a means-tested benefit such as universal credit but it did not provide enough to cover the cost of essentials.
Findings also show that 46% of disabled people faced hunger and that three quarters of people referred to food banks said they or a member of their household is disabled.
Ms Jones added: "To find that half of all disabled people in Scotland are facing hunger and that how disproportionately disabled people are represented at food banks is a real shocking indictment on the sort of society we live in and the lack of support and care we're putting in to meeting the needs of disabled people."
What needs to be done?
The Scottish Government recently published a strategy for ending the need for food banks.
But charities like Trussell Trust have called for meaningful action to be taken by decision makers.
Miss Jones said: "There's no excuse for any government to not know what to do now.
"They need to focus on putting more money into social security and we also need to look at work. One in six people who come into a foodbank are in a household where somebody's working, and of those people one in three have some form of insecure work.
"But the big message is for the UK Government on this because most people facing hunger are receiving some sort of social security and most of that is still delivered by the UK Government.
"They need to make sure that Universal Credit, in particular, actually covers the cost of essentials because at the money it's leaving people far too short and they're going hungry."