Recommendation 14

Higher food inflation and the rise in the cost of living more generally is meaning that food banks are experiencing record levels of demand this year. Earned income, not food banks, are ultimately the solution for household food insecurity. We welcome the substantial support packages, including the index-linked rise in welfare benefits and pensions, that the Government have provided to households which help them to meet their increased bills and therefore have more money to spend on food than 252 Food Standards Agency (FSA) (FS0082) 48 Food Security otherwise. The Government should examine whether the totality of support to lower- income households, including from central and local Government and charities, is sufficient to ensure household food security without the need to regularly use food aid organisations and publish its findings within six months of the publication of this Report.