Trudging through the aisles of Nicolson Street Lidl on a cold January day, dodging the hordes of shoppers only to get to a painfully disappointing array of fruit and veg, before slogging home in the rain with my weekly food shop feels like one of the most taxing chores that adult life has thrown my way. However, this burden of mine is a simple luxury that is not afforded to many in Edinburgh. As the cost of living climbs, many people find that sufficiently feeding themselves—and in many cases, their family—becomes an increasingly unaffordable feat, one that is all consuming and a constant struggle. The Edinburgh Food Project is a charity that exists to ease this burden and make the lives of those struggling with food insecurity a little bit easier.
Since 2012, this organisation has worked to provide people in need with emergency food provision through seven foodbanks scattered around the city. These are supplied to by donations from the public, which are made through supermarket collection baskets or food drives. This food is then sorted through and stored by volunteers before it is given to those in need. Food packages cover three meals for three days and are adapted to people’s individual needs and wants. Allergies are catered for and special requests, such as advent calendars and mince pies at Christmas, are sometimes made possible.
Despite what its name suggests, the Edinburgh Food Project, provides more than just food; essential household items, such as cleaning products and toiletries can also be found at the foodbanks. Less tangible is the emotional support that is also imparted on the those who need it. With a hot chocolate or a tea in hand, volunteers are there to chat, listen to, and support clients. They are also able to refer them to the Edinburgh Food Projects very own Money Advice Service as well as directing them towards various other routes of support.
A tricky aspect to navigate in the organisation of foodbanks is how to decide who can access them. It would be a disaster to allow anyone and everyone to use the service. The sad reality is that foodbanks would inevitably be abused by those who don’t need them, leaving people in real need with nothing to take home. Yet it seems unfair that you need to fight your case just to put food on the table. The Edinburgh Food Project works on a referral basis, in order to gain access to foodbanks you must be referred by a third-party agency, such as the NHS or the city of Edinburgh council.
Accessing food from foodbanks has often been stigmatised. The upsetting narrative surrounding foodbanks that the use of them is a “choice borne of poor life choices” leads many people to feel a sense of shame in using them. In cases like this, the referral system can be a humiliating obstacle that potentially discourages many from accessing the help they need. This system also perpetuates a divide between those who are classed as deserving or undeserving to access foodbanks, leaving many to question how “charitable” an organisation can really be for it to claim someone is underserving of food when they have sought help.
The complicated characteristics of foodbanks reveal that the real problem lies not in the flaws of a charitable organisation, but in the failure of the government to address root causes of food insecurity. Afterall, an organisation that is forced to run on the work of unpaid volunteers and donations from locals, is bound to be limited in what it can provide, and in turn be forced to make painful bureaucratic processes part of the experience. In 2023, a record 670,000 people experiences severe hardship across Scotland, a measure of a deep form of poverty in which food insecurity is particularly concentrated. This number continues to rise as UK incomes have continuously decreased significantly in real value since 2022. Food insecurity is a deep-rooted issue which must be tackled by government policy. However, this seems a faraway prosect, and in the meantime, the Edinburgh Food Project is certainly a temporary fix, one which provides much needed relief to many in need.
Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash