Systemic Betrayal, Moral Injury and Distress in Community Food Support
Dr Carl Walker, Councillor on Worthing Borough Councillor and co-founder of the Alliance for Dignified Food Support identifies ways of challenging the mass exploitation of food support staff and volunteers.
‘The way in which the community food support sector, and its largely volunteer workforce, has been allowed to expand to unofficially take on key functions of the UK social security and social work provision constitutes a form of entrenched moral, emotional and financial labour exploitation by successive UK governments. ’
“I think the other side of it is, you think ‘I can't bear being just such a small part in such an enormous problem’ and that that weighs heavily, very heavily”.
“So, we regrettably had to make decisions about how many people we could help. We didn't want to do that. Then we had to restrict how much we give. We didn't want to do that and then funding got less as demand got more. And donations got less as demand got more. So, we were forced into choosing between who were going to help and who we can’t.”
A Sector in Crisis
The UK food support sector is in crisis. Food support providers face increased demands while struggling with dwindling resources and it is clear that there is no prospect of any systemic change to the UK social security and the food support sector in the short-term.
Our recent research with volunteers and staff working in community food support showed evidence of a sector with a pronounced feeling of having been betrayed by a broader economic and political system. Many volunteers felt that it was their responsibility, as moral citizens, to intervene in the sometimes overwhelming humiliation, trauma and distress that many in poverty encounter. We found many clear examples where – by intervening – they often experienced moral injury and distress and are forced to manage profound moral conflicts and dilemmas on a daily basis, Many feel helpless and responsible for decisions which could negatively impact some of the most vulnerable people in society. And because these volunteers and workers are exposed to this with little training or support, many find themselves experience emotional burnout, guilt, shame and distress which often stays with them long after they left their shift.
The way in which the community food support sector, and its largely volunteer workforce, has been allowed to expand to unofficially take on key functions of the UK social security and social work provision constitutes a form of entrenched moral, emotional and financial labour exploitation by successive UK governments.
Moral Obligations, Absence of Responsibility
These profound challenges are not confined to community food support. Over 80% of UK schools offer some form of free food to families, well beyond the usual free lunches and breakfast clubs traditionally provided. Research suggests that teachers feel the need to provide food when faced with children who are hungry and to compensate for the impact of poverty on children in their care, arguing that if they did not provide food, no one would. For many in schools, there is also a sense of moral obligation towards children and families that they see every day, given the absence of alternatives.
The economic status quo that enforces widespread and growing hunger and the associated distress and trauma is likely to continue indefinitely. Given the persistent lack of a policy response or effective policy framework to take responsibility for food insecurity in society more generally, it is therefore, essential to develop ways to address the exploitation that community food support volunteer and staff experience in the face of a political and economic system that is sustained by, but does not formally acknowledge, their unpaid labour.
Unionising Food Support Staff?
Trade unions have typically protected the rights of workers. We should now think carefully about what collective representation might look like for those involved in community food support to consider how volunteers and workers in community food provision can have access to the same representation and protection that are the expected right of other workers. The mass traumatisation of food support users and the mass exploitation of food support staff and volunteers needs to stop and we’re going to need new ways of organising across the sector to achieve this.
