The Morality of the Food Parcel: Emergency Food as a Response to Austerity

This article is adapted from a public lecture give as part of the Ebor Lectures whose 2013-14 series was entitled "The Morality of Austerity''. Its purpose was to invite public reflection on the churches' most extensive response to austerity, the provision of emergency food often through food banks. After looking at reasons for the pressure on people's incomes, the article offers some historical, international, and political context to the provision of emergency food. Five concerns are raised in dialogue with the parable of the two sons in Luke 15. The article closes by proposing five actions that can be taken to trigger further reflection on emergency food as a response to austerity.