Over the past 7 years, the UK has witnessed a rapid rise in the number of people seeking emergency food assistance from food banks. National data suggest that 13% of households worry about having enough money for food, while an additional 8% have skipped meals and gone without eating. But what is driving this increase in food bank use, and what are the consequences of household food insecurity for health and nutrition?

My research broadly focuses on household food insecurity and food bank use in high-income countries. Specific projects involve novel data collected from households using food banks, and secondary data analysis of large data sets to explore the impact of poverty on food insecurity and nutrition.