Abertay to harness creative thinking in food poverty battle

A new Abertay University project will use business expertise to find creative solutions to Scotland’s ongoing food poverty crisis.

Abertay’s Dundee Business School will host a Food Jam tomorrow after the university became the only Scottish institution to secure funding from a Higher Education Funding Council England social innovation stream.

With 60,000 referrals inside six months to the Trussell Trust alone last year, stark figures show Scottish families are relying on foodbanks to survive every day.

The Abertay event will explore food chain redesign, communitydriven food supply systems and opportunities with urban orchards, city farms and local farms.

Dr Gary Mulholland of Dundee Business School said the session is part of the appetite for change project in collaboration with Coventry, Lincoln, Staffordshire and the Open universities. The Food Jam will collect expertise and experience with the help of James Hilder and Marie Duguid of Social Enterprise Academy

He added: “It’s not just about tackling hunger, it’s also about getting involved in your community to share your expertise, resources and get fit at the same time – digging over gardens and planting trees is fun and healthy.”

Derek Marshall, trustee of Dundee Foodbank and chairman of Angus Foodbank, said: “Both Dundee and Angus foodbanks have seen substantial increase in demand for their services this past year, with Dundee feeding over 9,300 individuals in food crisis and Angus feeding nearly 3,500 in the last year. Nearly one third of these are children. This is a wholly unacceptable situation for 21st Century Scotland which strips people of their dignity and selfrespect.”

The event, from 10am to 4pm, is open to anyone with ideas that could create solutions to food poverty or insight into food industry.