Led by the University of Southampton, the initiative will work with local councils and food aid services to ensure fairer and less wasteful distribution of food to pantries.
The three-year project will also involve consultation with food pantry users to identify potential service improvements.
This comes as the number of households requiring food aid has surged in recent years, rising from 2.5m in 2021/22 to 7.2m in 2022/23.
Consequently, demand on food pantries has increased significantly in the South.
According to Southampton Food Aid Forum, the volume of food redistributed to those in need rose sharply from 12,319 kgs in 2022 to 32,964 kgs in 2024.
University researchers are collaborating with local councils and 10 different food aid services in the region to enhance the food pantries in Southampton, the Isle of Wight, and the New Forest.
Dianna Smith, professor in geography at the University of Southampton, said: “Food pantries are having to buy more and more supplies in because there is more demand than can be met through the surplus food redistribution system.
“But access to food pantries and the quality of the food they offer is a postcode lottery.
“Some have lots of fresh and nutritious food, whilst others less so due to storage or other constraints.”
The research project is divided into three stages, including recruiting food pantry users as ‘community researchers’ to provide feedback for improvement, fostering closer ties between food pantries and local growers and retailers, and creating an online platform to facilitate cohesive working between food banks, surplus food suppliers, and food aid organisations.
Steve Johns from Southampton City Mission Marketplace, which runs food pantries in the city, said: “There is a sense of belonging through the membership with the Marketplace.
“There is another aspect to this, beyond food; it is a place of community and friendship as well as providing food.”
The initiative is one of six new projects across the UK aimed at tackling food inequality, all funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
