‘Free Food Places’: Looking Beyond the Food Bank to Better Understand Alternative Models of Food Aid

In the last decade, there has been a vast increase in research into the rise of food aid, particularly food banks, in wealthier countries. However, what has been less prominent so far is an exploration of food aid beyond the foodbank model. This article explores alternative forms of food aid – or ‘free food places’ – and what they offer in terms of provision and support, who uses them and why. Set in North East England in a post-industrial town, this study was based on ethnographic research of eight sites of food aid over a 7-month period where the researcher queued, sat with participants, and observed proceedings at these sites. This was accompanied by 11 semi-structured interviews with mainly single White British men and 3 British Women in need of food aid daily. This article argues that the free food places act as a safety net below foodbanks for some of the most deprived people in society who are often unaware of foodbanks and/or excluded from accessing them due to a referral system. This suggests that even within food aid, there is a hierarchy in which free food places are below foodbanks. The results showed that participants chose to access the free food places over foodbanks for reasons of companionship, sociability, and a lack of knowledge about foodbanks. The free food places also offered food that was ready to be consumed instantly and required no cooking or preparation, meeting the needs of participants who were often destitute.