Defra food vulnerability update

Below is is this week's update on Defra's work on food for vulnerable people:

Food boxes

• We have now delivered more than 2 million boxes of food
• We have sent out a revised letter with all food boxes including information on how to ask for help from an NHS volunteer responder
• We completed the first week of the food box survey, conducted via the DWP call centre, to assess the experience of and satisfaction with the delivery service and the food box scheme

Non-shielded vulnerable

• The grocery delivery referrals service for local authorities is continuing to be rolled out, with 72 local authority areas covered so far
• We have updated the commercial products and services info pack. We will continue to update regularly as new offers become available:
  ly/food-delivery-services
• We hosted a productive meeting between charities and retailers to discuss the needs of vulnerable people in accessing supermarkets
• There have now been over 138,000 community response tasks (which includes shopping for food and essential supplies) carried out by NHS Volunteer Responders
• We are working internally and across Whitehall to improve the case management offer for food box recipients, to ensure that recipient queries are answered as effectively as possible

Economically vulnerable

• FareShare are moving fast to supply food to front-line charities organisations who are providing food to those who are struggling to afford food because of the effects of Covid 19. 
• The Covid-19 Food Charity Grant Fund is open for applications and can be accessed here 
  https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-apply-for-the-food-charities-grant-fund  

Next week:

• We will be looking to progress work on the nutritional content of the food boxes to meet the needs of the recipients where possible
• We will be carrying out a detailed analysis of last week's food box survey results
• We will continue to work with FareShare to carry on providing food to front line charities
• We will continue to assess proposals for the Food Charity Grant Scheme to get funding to those who need more food to distribute