This isn’t just about food. It’s about fairness, dignity, and giving communities the tools they need to support themselves

Why Community Food Organisations deserve a place in the Child of the North APPG report

Posted by Andrea Burrows, Dr Claire O’Malley, Dr Helen Moore and Professor Amelia Lake, Fuse researchers from Teesside University

Andrea Burrows, Helen Moore with other contributors at the launch of the report in parliament

Across the North of England, families are facing a dual crisis: rising food insecurity and growing food waste. In response, Community Food Organisations (CFOs) - like social supermarkets and pantries - are stepping up in powerful, community led ways. These aren’t just places to get food. They’re places of dignity, connection, and hope.

But despite their growing role, CFOs are still flying under the radar. They’re under-researched, inconsistently defined, and often left out of the bigger policy picture. That’s why they were included in the Child of the North APPG report.

What is the Child of the North APPG?

The Child of the North All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) is a cross-party group of MPs, peers, researchers, and practitioners working together to tackle the deep-rooted inequalities affecting children in the North of England. From poverty and poor health to educational disadvantage, the APPG is committed to finding evidence-based solutions that give every child a fair start in life.

Backed by research from the Northern Health Science Alliance (NHSA), Health Equity North and the N8 Research Partnership, the APPG has already produced influential reports on the cost of living, education, and health. Now, it’s time to shine a light on food, and the role CFOs can play in transforming communities and the lives of children.

A different kind of food support

Unlike traditional food banks, CFOs operate more like supermarkets, offering surplus food at low prices. Often delivered in a familiar, retail-style setting, this model not only reduces food waste but also gives people choice and dignity in how they access food. It’s a far cry from the stigma that can come with emergency food aid.

Research shows that this approach better meets the needs of people experiencing food insecurity. It empowers them, rather than making them feel like recipients of charity.

One model, many faces

CFOs are incredibly diverse. Some are membership-based and serve specific groups; others are open to all. Some offer wraparound support like job training or help with household income; others focus purely on food. This flexibility is a strength, it not only allows CFOs to adapt to local needs, but it also makes it hard to evaluate their impact or share what works best.

"Community Food Organisations... aren’t just places to get food. They're places of dignity, connection, and hope."

A recent review led by by colleague Claire O'Malley (currently under review) found that there’s no single definition of a social supermarket. And many operate informally, relying on local relationships and community goodwill to source food. This makes them agile, but also vulnerable.

Why now?

Since the pandemic, food insecurity has increased, especially in the North. But so too has the rise of CFOs. In the North East and North Cumbria, there are now 67 social supermarkets. In the North East town of Middlesbrough alone, the number of Eco Shops, the dominant social supermarket model, has jumped from nine in 2021 to 28 in 2025.

This growth shows just how much communities value these spaces. But it also raises urgent questions:

• How can we make these models sustainable?
• What support do they need to thrive?
• How do they fit into the bigger picture of public health and food policy?

Why the Child of the North report matters

Including CFOs in the report will:

• Raise national awareness of their role and potential.
• Create shared definitions and standards to help evaluate impact.
• Highlight best practices and support scaling of successful models.
• Ensure CFOs are recognised as part of the wider food and health system - not just a stopgap.

This isn’t just about food. It’s about fairness, dignity, and giving communities the tools they need to support themselves. CFOs are already making a difference. With the right recognition and support, they could transform community support with accessible, socially accessible methods of community aid.

About the authors:

Andrea Burrows is a Research Associate at Teesside University and a Fuse Associate member

Dr Claire O'Malley is a Research Associate at Teesside University and a Fuse Associate member

Helen Moore is an Associate Professor at Teesside University and a Fuse Associate member

Amelia Lake is Professor of Public Health Nutrition at Teesside University, Deputy Director of Fuse, the Centre for Translational Research in Public Health, a dietitian and public health nutritionist.

Please mind the health gap: turning complex equations into a call for action

Guest post by Heather Brown, Senior Lecturer in Health Economics, and Michelle Addison, Research Associate, Newcastle University

As a quantitative researcher, I sometimes find it difficult to see how the output from complex equations can make a difference to people’s lives. The launch event for the Northern Health Science Alliance (NHSA) Health for Wealth report was a fantastic opportunity to see first-hand how statistical analysis can actually be used to influence policy and practice.

The productivity and health gap

There is a well-known productivity gap between the Northern Powerhouse and the rest of England of £4 per person per hour[1]. There is also a high health gap between the Northern Powerhouse and the rest of England, with life expectancy 2 years lower in the North. Given that both health and productivity are lower, the NHSA commissioned the Health for Wealth report to understand the impact of poor health on productivity and to explore the opportunities for improving UK productivity by unlocking regional growth through health improvement.

The perfect setting

The launch of the report took place in Newcastle at the Boiler Shop in the morning and at Lancaster House in London in the evening. The Boiler Shop is an impressive, urban industrial building set back from the Central Station. It was built in 1820 and was where Robert Stephenson and Company developed the world’s first locomotives. This has to be the perfect setting for the launch of the report. What better way to discuss how to build a healthier Northern Powerhouse for UK productivity than in this historically important space regarded as the ‘crucible of the Industrial Revolution’? The space is filled by a 100 plus audience of local policy makers, employers, health care practitioners, representatives from third sector organisations, academics, and the general public.

The morning event in Newcastle was kick started with a welcome address by Dame Jackie Daniel, Chief Executive of Newcastle Hospital and NHS Foundation Trust. She outlined how the Trust was very good at meeting targets and is one of the best performing Trusts in the country. But, the North East is still faced with reduced life expectancy and worse health outcomes than the rest of England. To solve this problem she said, we need a joint approach working with employers, local government, the voluntary sector, and the NHS. The report makes the case why it is in everyone’s interest to work together and that improving health, will improve economic prospects.

Fuse Deputy Director Professor Clare Bambra presents the report findings 

This was followed by a summary of the report findings by Fuse Deputy Director Professor Clare Bambra highlighting how 30% or £1.20 of the productivity gap between the Northern Powerhouse region and the rest of England can be explained by health. Reducing this health gap would generate an additional £3.2 billion in Gross Value Added (a measure of economic productivity). 

Next up was the leader of Newcastle City’s Council Nick Forbes. He discussed how in his role he can take the results from the report to try and make a positive change to the economic and health prospects for Newcastle. He also outlined the challenges faced from the current political climate in terms of squeezed budgets for local authorities and public health in particular.

Then there was a Q&A session where interesting questions were raised by a member of the voluntary sector on implementation and the need to involve the local community.

Finally, there was a closing address by Dr Hakim Yadi OBE, CEO of the NHSA, stressing how there was a need to make an economic case for improving health to get the central government to listen and take actual steps to make a difference.

I left the event thinking about how I present my research questions and findings and that when presented in a way that can be understood by key stakeholders, quantitative analysis can be meaningful and useful. The focus does not need to be on the complex equations but how the output from these equations can be used to change opinions or make a case for action.

I hope that the findings from this report lead to real change in improving health and economic prospects for all of us living in the Northern Powerhouse. I also hope that it changes the way I think about how I present my findings and research questions to generate evidence that can easily be used to make a real difference to public health and reducing health inequalities.

Report: Health for Wealth: Building a Healthier Northern Powerhouse for UK Productivity 
News: Major new report connects North’s poor health with poor productivity

The universities involved in the Northern Health Science Alliance (NHSA) commissioned ‘Health for Wealth’ report are: Newcastle University, University of Manchester, University of Lancaster, University of York, University of Liverpool and Sheffield University.

Reference:

1. Office for National Statistics (2015), Regional and sub-regional productivity in the UK, https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/labourproductivity/articles/regionalandsubregionalproductivityintheuk/jan2017