THE three areas in which a unique project will pilot alternative services and preventative approaches to cut the number of people turning to food banks have been announced.

And Fife has been confirmed as one of these and Kelty based MSP Alex Rowley welcomed the news.

The project – called ‘A Menu for Change: Cash, Rights, Food’ – is a partnership between Oxfam Scotland, Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland, Nourish Scotland and The Poverty Alliance. The four charities have come together to help reduce the need for and reliance on emergency food aid across Scotland.

The project will work intensively with local groups in Dundee, East Ayrshire and Fife. The three areas were named at an event at the Scottish Parliament sponsored by Alex Rowley.

The project will focus on ensuring more people access statutory and cash-based crisis support, including the Scottish Welfare Fund, as well as debt minimisation. It will also promote alternative, dignified ways of supporting those who are food insecure, such as community cafes and food cooperatives.

Anela Anwar, Oxfam Scotland Programme Manager, said: “We are really pleased to be working with local partners in these three areas but we are determined to learn lessons to inform the response to food insecurity right across Scotland.

“It is a scandal that while shops in Scotland are stuffed full with food so many people’s stomachs are empty because they can’t afford to buy food.

“A Menu for Change is working to prevent food banks from becoming a permanent part of Scotland’s social security net. Even at a time of income crisis, everyone in Scotland should have the money they need to feed themselves and their families, and buy other basic essentials.”

Latest figures show a growing hunger problem in Scotland, with the number of emergency food aid packages handed out by the Trussell Trust increasing by more than 900 percent in the three years up to 2015/16. However, these figures are only the tip of the iceberg, with the true scale of food insecurity in Scotland still unknown due to a lack of available data on people who use other crisis services or skip meals instead of going to food banks.

Alex Rowley, Scottish Labour Deputy Leader and Equalities spokesperson, said: “The people of Scotland have responded incredibly generously to help their neighbours who are struggling to put food on the table, whether volunteering or donating to a food bank.

“However, the reality is food banks were never intended as a long-term solution to hunger and they should not become an entrenched part of our social safety net.

“This project offers a real opportunity to pilot alternative approaches to addressing food insecurity. All political parties should redouble our efforts to ensure everyone is treated with dignity, respect and given the support they need to tackle the underlying income crises which have resulted in a surge in food bank use in Scotland.”