Bob Doherty

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify hybridity, the pursuit of the dual mission of financial sustainability and social purpose, as the defining characteristic of social enterprises, and assess the impact of hybridity on the management of the SE mission, financial resource acquisition and human resource mobilization.

TL;DR: In this paper, a number of key issues in defining an organisation as a social enterprise and highlighting the central issue of measuring success and impact are discussed. But, it can be concluded that whilst certain beliefs and principles are routinely evident, social enterprises most certainly cannot be described as one-size-fits-all.

Abstract: This article draws upon our perspective as academic-practitioners working in the fields of food insecurity, food systems, and inequality to comment, in the early stages of the pandemic and associated lockdown, on the empirical and ethical implications of COVID-19 for socio-economic inequalities in access to food in the UK. The COVID-19 pandemic has sharpened the profound insecurity of large segments of the UK population, an insecurity itself the product of a decade of ‘austerity’ policies. Increased unemployment, reduced hours, and enforced self-isolation for multiple vulnerable groups is likely to lead to an increase in UK food insecurity, exacerbating diet-related health inequalities. The social and economic crisis associated with the pandemic has exposed the fragility of the system of food charity which, at present, is a key response to growing poverty. A vulnerable food system, with just-in-time supply chains, has been challenged by stockpiling. Resultant food supply issues at food banks, alongside rapidly increasing demand and reduced volunteer numbers, has undermined many food charities, especially independent food banks. In the light of this analysis, we make a series of recommendations. We call for an immediate end to the five week wait for Universal Credit and cash grants for low income households. We ask central and local government to recognise that many food aid providers are already at capacity and unable to adopt additional responsibilities. The government’s - significant - response to the economic crisis associated with COVID-19 has underscored a key principle: it is the government’s responsibility to protect population health, to guarantee household incomes, and to safeguard the economy. Millions of households were in poverty before the pandemic, and millions more will be so unless the government continues to protect household incomes through policy change.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors have a unique insight into the fair trade market having a combined experience of over 30 years in practice and 15 as fair trade scholars, and highlight the negative consequences of mainstreaming on the long-term viability of fair trade as a credible ethical standard.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors proposed that building redundancy and diversity in the food system is essential for resilience in the COVID-19 recovery in the UK food system, where insufficient capacity in domestic food production, just-in-time supply chains and Brexit-related labour market challenges have weakened the UK’s food system.