With current research suggesting that 1 in 5 people in the UK live in poverty, we are seeing a continual increase in the number of people requiring support from foodbanks. As of 2016, the number of people using foodbanks exceeded 1.1 million, which shockingly represents an increase of over 1 million people over a 5-year period.

As more families begin to rely on support from foodbanks, there needs to be a move towards a more stable and sustainable supply of food to help meet the demand.

The vast majority of foodbanks rely on FareShare programmes and donations from local food outlets which means that they are not always guaranteed to receive enough produce to cover everyone who requires support. Furthermore, the dietary options that are available to those experiencing food poverty decreases due to the nature in which the services operate with most of the food donated in tins, packaged for long term storage, or close to its use by date.

The increase in food poverty in our area has also seen the creation of other support services, such as soup kitchens and food larders, offering another avenue of assistance to those affected, however they face the same constraints as foodbanks with regards to donated produce.

By growing fruit and vegetables locally we hope to offer a model which combats these issues and aids in the provision of these much-needed services. We hope to combine our food production with other aspects of the project, such as our composting programme and the production of biochar from woodland waste, which will allow us to minimise running costs and sustain the project long into the future.

Our pilot project has been operating on-site in Kinneil Estate since January 2017 and, as of the end of Sept, we have made 9 donations of produce to Bo'ness Storehouse and other support services.

For more information on our project, please visit our facebook page at:

 www.facebook.com/sustainablethinkingscotlandCIC

Thank you