ABOUT US
Founded in 2022, the Alliance for Dignified Food Support (ADFS) is a UK-wide coalition of community food initiatives, local food partnerships, food justice networks, national food support organisations, academics, and activists. We have undertaken two pieces of research into:
Hunger Trauma (the dehumanising impact on people who use emergency food aid)
Moral Injury (the burnout experienced by people who work and volunteer in the emergency food aid sector).
Our Dignity Toolkit, developed in collaboration with Feeding Britain, the Independent Food Aid Network, Sustain, Church Action on Poverty, and a cohort of place-based food partnerships, has been downloaded by over 200 emergency food aid organisations across the UK and Ireland. Its principles and evidence-based recommendations are being successfully applied in diverse settings.
We bring people together to campaign for the complete transformation of the emergency food aid sector.
Our vision is a Food Bank Free Britain, and we believe that this can be achieved through the development of:
Cash first interventions for people at the point of crisis
Joined up advice and specialist support services that build resilience
Sustainable community food initiatives that bring people together to share food
OUR MISSION
Emergency food aid, such as food banks and the provision of food parcels, is neither an adequate nor an inevitable response to poverty.
Research shows that 86% of households experiencing severe household food insecurity never use a food bank, even as over two thousand emergency food aid settings continue to operate across the UK.
We focus on improving dignity in existing emergency food aid provision, whilst also campaigning for systemic change to end mass reliance on emergency food aid.
Our aims are to:
Support emergency food aid organisations
We provide training and support to ensure that existing provision is as dignified as possible, while also supporting organisations to develop transition plans and/or exit strategies.
Campaign for systemic change
We advocate for a Food Bank Free Britain through the development of cash first initiatives for people at the point of crisis, joined up advice and specialist support services that build resilience, and sustainable community food initiatives that bring people together to share food.
Centre the voices of staff and volunteers
We raise awareness of the impact of delivering emergency food aid and crisis support on frontline workers and volunteers, creating spaces for them to share their experiences to shape collective action and policy.