Examining the place of supermarkets in mitigating local household food insecurity
10 September 2024 – Caroline Lee and Dr Catherine Hammant explore how supermarkets can play their part in mitigating local food insecurity through strategic and place-based partnerships in this new working paper from the CISL Foresight team.
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About
The challenge of food insecurity, characterised by individuals and households having limited access to nutritious food, affects 11.3 million UK adults. Within the context of an intensifying cost-of-living crisis and enduring inequalities, addressing food poverty and building community resilience has never been more important.
The unique role and positioning of food retailers within communities – as shown by the COVID-19 pandemic – renders them an integral part of both food and food aid systems. This paper focuses on the ‘anchor’ positioning of supermarkets within UK communities, and their resulting potential to influence health, wellbeing and sustainability. Although local government may typically coordinate efforts against food insecurity, participating in strategic and place-based partnerships can allow supermarkets to support food security through:
- good training and employment
- price reductions;
- donations of goods and space in store;
- outreach; and
- grant funding to community groups.
For supermarkets, local communities simultaneously represent current and future customers, staff and suppliers, and it is thus in their best interests to act on ‘social’ goals alongside business imperatives. Such businesses should see themselves – and be seen, in turn – as community ‘anchors’, investing in innovative actions and cross-sectoral collaboration to enhance their social impact, thereby contributing to community resilience and sustainable growth.
Citing this report
University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL). (2024). Examining the place of supermarkets in mitigating local household food insecurity. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.