@antanicus I don't think food poverty in the UK is related to brexit, and it began before the referendum. It's really a story about the demise of the welfare state, beginning in the 1980s.

Particular decisions which led to what we have now are the "carrot and stick" welfare policy of Tony Blair which saw the first introduction of benefit sanctions and punitive conditionality. Then after 2010 benefit sanctions were expanded and turned into quotas under the particularly odious Ian Duncan Smith. Compounding that is the non-recovery after the 2008 crash. The few new jobs which were created have been precarious gig economy type work or zero hours contracts. People trying, and mostly failing, to live on Paterons, food banks and very uncertain working hours, etc.