School of Social and Political Science

Description

The recent ‘cost-of-living-crisis’ has posed immense challenges for low-income families seeking to access sufficient and adequate food for a healthy diet. Food insecurity among households with children has risen sharply with many reaching out for support for the first time. The pressure on household budgets is keenly felt in rural areas of Scotland, where the cost of maintaining an adequate standard of living is higher while food and support resources are more dispersed and mobility is paramount. Drawing on in-depth interviews and PhotoVoice, this qualitative study explored the experiences and coping strategies of rural parents experiencing food insecurity. It found that rural parents face overlapping economic, geographical and gender-based challenges and adopt complex and labour-intensive strategies to cope: seeking value for money, minimising risk, building contingency, mobilising others, and compromising their own needs. Their experiences illustrate a stoic and lonely struggle to provide food in the context of structural financial and geographical constraints.