South Tyneside becomes 'Right to Food' zone in battle against hunger

This week, a motion was launched by several Labour members asking South Tyneside Council to take a stance on the issue due to high numbers of people living in poverty and suffering from food insecurity.

A planned independent review of England’s food system, the National Food Strategy, is set to be presented to the government setting out the steps towards building a food system for the future.

The Right to Food campaign believes around 11 million people in the UK are living in food poverty and that this group should be central to the food strategy going forward.

Councillor Margaret Peacock presented the motion on the issue at a full meeting of the borough council on July 22, which was held at Temple Park Leisure Centre.

The motion asked councillors to back the campaign, which is also calling for the right to food to be adopted into law to give “legal avenues to hold government bodies accountable for violations.”

Cllr Peacock said councillors had worked alongside Jarrow MP Kate Osborne to develop the motion, which included raising awareness of local poverty issues in South Tyneside and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

She added the campaign had already received backing from a number of South Tyneside companies and five established food banks based in the borough.

Cllr Peacock told the meeting: “This council motion will call for the right to food to be incorporated in the government’s National Food Strategy with the aim of identifying the food system we should be building for the future, with a plan on how to achieve that vision.”

She added: “If the motion passes through council, it will see South Tyneside join Liverpool and Manchester as a Right to Food area and the campaign will work with supporters and partners nationwide to bring more towns and cities on board.”

Labour councillor Margaret Meling said she was “outraged” by the numbers of people living with food insecurity and that future government strategy should look at the connections between diet choices and poverty.

“There is a nutritional gap between rich and poor and the less well off you are, the more likely you are to eat unhealthy food,” she said.

“Nutritious meals are vital in keeping us all healthy and resilient and government must prioritise the public’s health giving everyone access to healthy and affordable food.

“The National Food Strategy provides some pointers in achieving this goal but it must be underpinned by the acknowledgement of the right to food and the legal powers to hold the government to account.”

The motion to full council also gave an insight into the impact of poverty on South Tyneside residents.

From April 2020, South Tyneside Council saw around 2,300 people access its Coronavirus Hardship Fund, which provided vouchers that can be exchanged for cash through the pay point network.

Green Party councillor, David Francis, added: “It’s utterly shameful that in one of the richest countries in the world we have so many people living in food insecurity and food poverty.

“To make matters worse, many of those accessing food banks are not just those out of work but also the working poor and this seems especially perverse when 12 months ago the Chancellor was helping pay the bills of those who could afford to visit restaurants through ‘eat out to help out.’

“As the motion notes, all of this is a consequence of policy choices […] and the whole situation may well be yet another argument in favour of the universal basic income.”

The motion calling for the right to food to be incorporated into the National Food Strategy won unanimous support.

It also called on South Tyneside Council’s leader and chief executive to write to the independent chair for the Government’s National Food Strategy to “further this request.”

The motion in full reads:

Right to Food

This Council notes that:

We are seeing a crisis of food poverty born out of the political choices and systemic failings created over the past four decades, which have now reached a tipping point for so many in our communities. The figures are devastating for one of the richest nations in the world and highlight the inequality of the UK in 2021.

The Trussell Trust reports a soaring 81% increase in emergency food parcels from food banks in its network during the last two weeks of March 2020 compared with the same period in 2019, including a 122% rise in parcels given to children as the coronavirus pandemic continued to unfold.

This council notes the consistent high rates of poverty across our borough. We recognise the growing concern amongst our health and care professionals of the current situation and the likely exacerbation of poverty figures through the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and economic uncertainty as we enter 2021.

Before the pandemic around 800 people per year accessed the South Tyneside Council Local Welfare Provision that provides short term non-cash support. From April 2020, South Tyneside Council has seen around 2,300 people access its coronavirus hardship fund, which has provided vouchers that could be exchanged for cash through the pay point network. This means that South Tyneside Council has effectively seen an increase of 187.5% in applications for hardship support since the start of the pandemic.

DWP data shows a 59% increase in unemployed working-age adults claiming Universal Credit in South Tyneside from February 2020 to April 2021.

The National Food Strategy is the first independent review of England’s entire food system for 75 years. Its purpose is to set out a vision for the kind of food system we should be building for the future, and a plan for how to achieve that vision. It is headed by Henry Dimbleby and next reports to the Government in early 2021.

The ‘Right to Food’ campaign is arguing that the 11 million people in food poverty should be central to this strategy.

Ensuring the ‘Right to Food’ into law would clarify Government obligations on food poverty and would introduce legal avenues to hold Government bodies accountable for violations

This Council therefore resolves:

To call for the ‘Right to Food’ to be incorporated into the ‘National Food Strategy’. We ask the Council Leader and The Chief Executive to write to Henry Dimbleby the Independent Chair for the Government’s National Food Strategy to further this request.