The Bishop of Derby asked a question on the effect of food supply chain issues on food banks, during a debate on food provision by charities on 27th March 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Derby: My Lords, 80% of our churches currently support food banks. The Food 4 Thought Alliance was set up to respond to the immediate needs of people in Derby at the start of the Covid pandemic. It reports a 30% increase, already mentioned here, in the distribution of food parcels since last year.
The National Farmers’ Union cautioned last year that we were
“sleepwalking into a food supply crisis”.
What is being done to ensure that problems with supply chains do not push yet more people to rely on food banks?
Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con): The right reverend Prelate is right. We recognise that charities and community organisations have been hit by a triple threat of rising demand, rising costs and declining income over recent months. I applaud the role the Church plays in this respect. I am also very aware of the rising costs of certain food items from places such as Morocco and Spain due to climate change. But the funding we are giving broadly supplements the intervention to support households and businesses. The Government also support some of these vulnerable groups through other funding, such as through DLUHC.
The Church of England in Parliament 
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