Staving off hunger with statistics and humanity | Letters

Rosie Boycott, Frank Field and Andrew Forsey of Feeding Britain on the reforms needed to end the reliance on food banks. Plus letters from Elizabeth Roberts, John Gaskin and Ariella Lister

Your leader (10 November) is right: nobody should need to rely on food banks to stave off hunger and destitution. Where specific drivers of need have been identified, Feeding Britain and others have secured reforms – such as the holiday activities and food programme, streamlined processes for tax credits and child benefit, and stronger protection for people on prepayment meters – to counter them.

If further such reforms are to be gained, thereby addressing the underlying causes of hunger, they must be guided by robust and granular data. The Trussell Trust could lead this exercise by investing in systems that break down its broad referral criteria of “benefit changes”, “benefit delays” and “low income”. The government could play its part, too, by publishing its internal review of the drivers of food bank demand.

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from Children | The Guardian https://ift.tt/3lmHYq1