The BFJ has a long and distinguished history of reporting on all aspects of food, including scares and food inequality (Mozley, 1994). The papers in this special edition deal with the issue of emergency food aid in countries of the global north, including accounts from Italy, the Netherlands, the UK, Canada and Australia. We are used to seeing images in the media of food want and emergency aid in developing countries at times of climate crises or war (Franks, 2013). Historically to an extent, these have not been seen in the so-called developed world since the 1930s, however the last 10 years has found them re-appearing with regularity.

These articles contribute to our insights and the direction in which food banks and emergency food aid are developing, the internal workings and challenges that food banks, and indeed the social challenges facing food banks in their operations.