Consumer group Which? have used our Priority Places for Food Index to highlight the neighbourhoods in Scotland most in need of support to access food during the current cost of living crisis.
As part of their recent Policy research paper – Consumers in Scotland – a food briefing – Which? identified ten Parliamentary Constituencies where over half of the neighbourhoods are a priority place.
| Constituency Name | Neighbourhoods in constituency | Proportion of neighbourhoods that are priority places | Rank (out of 73 Scottish parliamentary constituencies) |
| Cunninghame South | 92 | 71% | 1 |
| Cunninghame North | 94 | 69% | 2 |
| Glasgow Provan | 98 | 68% | 3 |
| Greenock and Inverclyde | 107 | 62% | 4 |
| Glasgow Pollok | 101 | 61% | 5 |
| Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley | 108 | 60% | 6 |
| Glasgow Anniesland | 92 | 57% | 7 |
| Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn | 90 | 53% | 8 |
| Dumbarton | 102 | 52% | 9 |
| Dundee City West | 94 | 51% | 10 |
Note: Which? Analysis of the Priority Places for Food index. Data Zones 2011 are matched to Scottish Parliamentary constituencies and electoral regions using 2011 Data Zone Lookups from statistics.gov.scot.
What is a priority place for food?
Priority places are neighbourhoods most at risk of food insecurity, and where interventions to help people access affordable food will be most valuable.
There are many reasons why people may find it difficult to access affordable food.
Some relate to individuals’ circumstances, like lower incomes. Other reasons relate to the place that someone lives, such as the level of retail provision or the quality of public transport. In the case of accessing affordable food online, barriers may be both place-based (limited or no online deliveries) or related to the individual (limited capability to shop online).
Which? is calling on the Scottish Government and Supermarkets to help those most at risk of food insecurity – find out more and read the full report.
What is the Priority Place for Food Index?
The Priority Places for Food Index – developed by Dr Michelle Morris, Dr Pete Baudains and Dr Fran Pontin in collaboration with Which? – is a composite index formed of data compiled across seven different dimensions relating to food insecurity for the four nations in the UK. It is constructed using open data to capture complex and multidimensional aspects of food insecurity.
Building on the CDRC e-Food Desert Index, from Dr Andy Newing, but with additional domains relating to fuel poverty and family food support, the goal of the Priority Places for Food Index is to identify neighbourhoods that are most vulnerable to increases in the cost of living and which have a lack of accessibility to affordable, healthy, and sustainable sources of food.
The index is developed at the geographic level of Lower Super Output Areas in England and Wales, Data Zones in Scotland and Super Output Areas in Northern Ireland (2011 boundaries). Data for all countries is included where possible, but some indicators are not available across all countries.
