Household food insecurity is a serious public health concern in rich countries with developed economies closely associated with inequality. The prevalence of household food insecurity is relatively high in some developed countries, ranging from 8 to 20% of the population. Human rights approaches have the potential to address the structural causes, not just the symptoms of food insecurity. Despite most developed countries ratifying the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights over 40 years ago, food insecurity rates suggest current social protections are inadequate. The contemporary framing of the solution to food insecurity in developed countries is that of diverting food waste to the hungry to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals agenda (Goals 2 and 12.3). An estimated 60 million people or 7.2% of the population in high income countries used food banks in 2013. Although providing food assistance to those who are hungry is an important strategy, the current focus distracts attention away from the ineffectiveness of government policies in addressing the social determinants of food insecurity. Much of the action needed to improve household food security falls to actors outside the health sector. There is evidence of promising actions to address the social determinants of food insecurity in some developed countries. Learning from these, there is a strong case for government leadership, for action within and across government, and effective engagement with other sectors to deliver a coordinated, collaborative, and cooperative response to finding pathways out of food insecurity.

Food banks have become the main response to food insecurity in many high-income countries, but it has been argued that they lack the capacity to respond consistently and fully to the food needs of the people who use them. This literature review set out to answer the question 'how do food bank recipients experience food relief services and how does this impact their lives and wellbeing?' A comprehensive search of electronic databases yielded twenty qualitative studies, conducted in developed countries, exploring user perspectives of food banks. From the studies reviewed, there emerged three main categories that represented the different aspects of the food bank process from the food bank user's perspective: the user's perceptions about the idea of being fed from food banks, the user's perceptions about food bank offerings and operations, and the socio-psychological impact of receiving food from food banks. While participants of these studies spoke positively of the volunteers and were thankful for the service, they also consistently report limited food choice, poor quality, shame, stigma and embarrassment associated with food bank use. The food bank industry continues to expand despite there being little evidence that food banks are an appropriate response for those facing food insecurity. This is worrying as the results of this review indicate that although participants value the service provided by the food bank, the experience can be largely negative. These findings raise questions about the food bank model as a long-term strategy.

Purpose: – Over the last 20 years, food banks in Australia have expanded nationwide and are a well-organised “industry” operating as a third tier of the emergency food relief system. The purpose of this paper is to overview the expansion and operation of food banks as an additional self-perpetuating “tier” in the response to hunger. Design/methodology/approach: – This paper draws on secondary data sourced from the internet; as well as information provided by Foodbank Australia and Food Bank South Australia (known as Food Bank SA) to outline the history, development and operation of food banks. Food banking is then critically analysed by examining the nature and framing of the social problems and policies that food banking seeks to address. This critique challenges the dominant intellectual paradigm that focuses on solving problems; rather it questions how problem representation may imply certain understandings. Findings: – The issue of food banks is framed as one of food re-distribution and feeding hungry people; however, the paper argue that “the problem” underpinning the food bank industry is one of maintaining food system efficiency. Food banks continue as a neo-liberal mechanism to deflect query, debate and structural action on food poverty and hunger. Consequently their existence does little to ameliorate the problem of food poverty. Practical implications: – New approaches and partnerships with stakeholders remain key challenges for food banks to work more effectively to address food poverty. Social implications: – While the food bank industry remains the dominant solution to food poverty in Australia, debate will be deflected from the underlying structural causes of hunger. Originality/value: – This paper contributes to the limited academic literature and minimal critique of the food bank industry in Australia. It proposes that the rapid expansion of food banks is a salient marker of government and policy failure to address food poverty.

Sustainability in the context of interventions is very broadly defined, referring to the general phenomenon of the continuation of the intervention or of its effects.^1,2 The need for long-term viability of interventions is likely to increase as policy-makers, practitioners and funders become increasingly focussed on the need to allocate scarce resources effectively and efficiently.¹ Whilst the realities of intervention research and implementation funding produce and assess relatively short-term outcomes, there is a need to identify, at the very least, indicators of longer term effects. Assessing the likelihood of sustainability is crucial for users of public health evidence (practitioners, policy-makers and funders). Stakeholders want to know whether the health benefit (or otherwise) of the interventions under review are going to be sustained beyond the funded period and perhaps beyond the life of the intervention itself (if both cease). This paper reports upon a scoping review that aimed to understand key elements of sustainability in public health and health promotion interventions, using community-based obesity prevention as an example. These elements aim to offer a useful guide to both researchers undertaking systematic reviews and end-users of public health evidence.

It is widely understood that households with low economic resources and poor labour market attachment are at considerable risk of food insecurity in Australia. However, little is known about variations in food insecurity by receipt of specific classes of social assistance payments that are made through the social security system. Using newly released data from the 2016 Household Expenditure Survey, this paper reports on variations in food insecurity prevalence across a range of payment types. We further investigated measures of financial wellbeing reported by food-insecure households in receipt of social assistance payments. Results showed that individuals in receipt of Newstart allowance (11%), Austudy/Abstudy (14%), the Disability Support Pension (12%), the Carer Payment (11%) and the Parenting Payment (9%) were at significantly higher risk of food insecurity compared to those in receipt of the Age Pension (<1%) or no payment at all (1.3%). Results further indicated that food-insecure households in receipt of social assistance payments endured significant financial stress, with a large proportion co-currently experiencing “fuel” or “energy” poverty. Our results support calls by a range of Australian non-government organisations, politicians, and academics for a comprehensive review of the Australian social security system