Government funds six projects to tackle UK food insecurity and improve healthy access

The UK Government is investing £8.5 million in six regional projects aimed at tackling food insecurity and improving access to nutritious food for people in deprived communities across the country.

Announced on Monday 7 July by Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle, the funding, provided through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), supports initiatives combining research with practical solutions such as mobile greengrocers, voucher schemes, subsidised public restaurants and data tools to tackle rising food inequality, especially among low-income and vulnerable groups.

Initiatives receiving funding 

A Liverpool project is developing a digital mapping tool to help the Queen of Greens mobile greengrocer better target social housing residents with limited access to fresh produce. Since 2022, the bus has delivered affordable fruit and vegetables across Liverpool and Knowsley. The new tool will allow the project to expand and target routes more precisely, while some residents will receive fruit and vegetable vouchers from the Alexandra Rose Charity to redeem on the mobile grocer.

Researchers will also track improvements in diet and health, assessing the potential impact of scaling the scheme nationwide.

Other projects include two state-subsidised public restaurants in Dundee and Nottingham providing affordable, nutritious meals designed with input from families in deprived households. In Glasgow, community food markets in “food deserts” will be enhanced with food literacy and arts activities to boost engagement.

Further schemes aim to improve food pantry supply chains in Southampton, the New Forest and the Isle of Wight using online platforms to reduce waste and increase access to nutritious food. In Wales, researchers will assess and improve the nutritional content and uptake of free school meals. Workshops in deprived local authorities across England will help councils design policies to reduce regional food inequalities.

Getting healthy food into the mouths that need it

Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle emphasised the importance of combining innovation with evidence:

No one in this country should be left unable to access the healthy food they need – which is why interventions like the Queen of Greens are so important – and measuring their impact is so vital.

These projects will draw on the power of research to actively explore the best ways to get healthy food into the mouths of those who need it, potentially having a transformational effect on people’s lives, and fulfilling the missions set in our Plan for Change.”

The initiatives come shortly after the government’s launch of the 10-Year Health Plan, which seeks to “make the healthy choice the easy choice.”

The plan recognises that the region someone lives in can significantly influence their ability to maintain good health and highlights the need for regionally targeted interventions like these.

Urgency for action

Rising food insecurity underlines the urgency of such action. According to government data, in 2023–24, 7.5 million people in the UK lived in food-insecure households each month. This is an increase of 300,000 people from 2022 to 2023 and an increase of 2.5 million people from 2019 to 2020.

Professor Alison Park, Deputy Executive Chair of the Economic and Social Research Council, said:

Everyone should have access to healthy, nutritious food but we know the number of food insecure households across the UK is increasing. These innovative projects from across the UK – from Wales to Dundee, Nottingham to the Isle of Wight – will go a long way in helping us understand how to tackle food inequalities and what interventions really make a difference.”

Researchers will carefully evaluate each project’s impact on diet, health outcomes and food accessibility to inform national strategies aimed at reducing food insecurity and promoting healthier diets across the UK.