In light of a dangerously inflated cost of living, rising household food insecurity and countless families being forced to rely on food banks to feed themselves, now more than ever we must be pushing our government to include a basic Right to Food in UK law. 

Enshrining the Right to Food in law would provide the legal basis to address all aspects of our food chain - from farm to fork.  When we understand food as a human right we can begin to appreciate how food insecurity must be met with long-term sustainable solutions. While schemes such as food banks are a necessary emergency response, they should not become normalised as the solution to chronic food insecurity. 

By recognising food as a fundamental human right it also reveals the true value of those that work to put food on our plates and the need to uphold and protect their right to dignified work, a living wage and safe working conditions.

The problems in our food system are systemic, and piecemeal temporary solutions like food banks are insufficient in addressing the kind of chronic food insecurity that countless UK households continue to face year on year. What we need is a whole-system change to our food system; one which is grounded in a fundamental Right to Food. 

We all deserve a right to affordable, sustainably produced, nutritious and culturally appropriate food, and this must be supported by proper legal and policy frameworks to ensure that no one falls through the gaps in our food system. Write to your MP today and urge them to support a Right to Food.

Further information:

• Other organisations working on the Right to Food: Nourish (Scotland), Sustain (UK wide), War on Want, Human Rights Watch, the Independent Food Aid Network which is part of the Global Network for the Right to Food and Nutrition and Just Fair.
• The UK already has international obligations with respect to the Right to Food via the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations. You can read more about it here.
• Ian Byrne MP’s Right to Food campaign. You can read his article explaining the campaign here.
• Right to Food London 

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