Birkbeck Politics: Right To Food Symposium 13/05/2022
On 13th May 2022, Birkbeck food group, led by Professor Alex Colas and Dr Jason Edwards, held a roundtable discussion and workshop on the Right to Food. The aim of the event was to see how the a national campaign for a ‘Right to Food’ can be translated into concrete policies addressing food inequalities in households, communities and workplaces, and how academic research can shape such aspirations.
Across the UK food has become one of the central issues in British politics. In the last few months, we have seen shocking figures that more than 2m adults in UK cannot afford to eat every day and 7.3 million adults. (13.8% of households) experienced food insecurity in April 2022. This interactive map shows the number of independent food banks across the UK. In the last week we have seen debates on government policy on junk food to whether, as one Conservative MP claimed, we can make meals for 30 pence. The photos of David Cameron volunteering or a local Mayor ‘cutting the ribbon’ of a new foodbank illustrates the scale of the problem, and how some politicians view it.
The workshop aimed to bring together practitioners, academics, trade unionists and MPs from across the UK to exchange, discuss and develop ideas. Speakers included two powerful anti-poverty campaigners John McDonnell MP and Ian Byrne MP, and the day’s discussion looked across what was happening in the UK, and how the issue of food was connected to questions around wages and work, as well as global questions of supply chains, corporate responsibility and climate change.
Speakers explored the links between food and universal credit, how ‘shielding’ in the pandemic revealed the limits and confusion over policy, as well as historical issues of injustice and past food policies, such as the famous ‘British restaurants’ of World War Two.
Many speakers were keen to point out that food was not just an issue to be ‘solved’, but was a social activity, that was connected in a positive way to ideas of communal living and diversity. Events like ‘bring a dish’ meet -ups can have a powerful effect on community cohesion and regeneration.
Despite the bleak picture, there are signs of changes from activists and governments across the UK. We heard from Liverpool, which campaigners have announced is in the grip of a food poverty emergency, where a good food plan has been launched which brings together campaigns for real living wages and hours with food champions and the launch of community food spaces (see this map). London has a mobile food bus, offering groceries, as well as a café on the top deck. The Welsh government and Plaid Cymru announced a funding package to give all primary school children in Wales free school meals by 2024.
The Bakers Union launched a Right To Food ‘to make sure food is healthy, safe to eat and fairly produced by well-paid and protected staff throughout the food sector’. The question for the day was how this can be realised, and speakers outlined ideas on how slogans and campaigns, as well as powerful stories and narratives to help push the message outwards.
The meeting was the first step, so keep an eye for how a Right to Food develops in the coming months. You can learn more about these issues through Birkbeck's Food group and the MSc in Food, Politics and Society.
