‘I’m So Busy Thinking about My Own Shopping That I Don’t Remember’: a Qualitative Interview Study Exploring Barriers and Facilitators to Food Bank Donations in the UK

Food banks address food insecurity in the UK, yet donated food can be nutritionally unsatisfactory and of limited supply. This qualitative study explored barriers and motivations to donate through semi-structured interviews with 22 UK adults from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, recruited through the University of Reading and social media. Thematic analysis revealed perceptions of food banks. Motivations included empathy, guilt and cues to action (e.g. observing a donation point). Barriers were structural (limited access); behavioral (forgetting); and emotional/cognitive (doubts about impact). Participants recommended increasing visibility, particularly pre-checkout supermarket prompts. Future research should test these strategies to improve donation quality and quantity.