Section 4: Impacts of food and financial insecurity

I am exploring people's inability to access and have the choice of an affordable, acceptable and healthy diet in Gateshead and the social determinants of food insecurity; to understand how this affects health and wellbeing, contributing to wider health and social inequalities.

The focus of this research is on women, mothers and the early years of life (recognised as an important period of development for a child's health, then and into adulthood). Early research in Gateshead has identified different models of service provision offering food to women and mothers who are struggling to access or afford adequate nutritious food.

In the coming year I will be talking to women and mothers who access these services. The aim is to listen and to understand the situations that lead them to use of these services; to learn from their experiences about what extra support is needed, if any, to have access to an affordable, healthy balanced diet in Gateshead. This will help us to understand if and how we can improve available services and resources.

I will also be listening to frontline workers experiences and perspectives of responding to the health and wellbeing challenges posed by lack of access to and affordability of a healthy diet in Gateshead.

Section 5: How the Gateshead MECC Approach Has Challenged Inequalities