In a joint letter to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram, Acting Mayor of Liverpool and local council leaders have asked for the Right to Food be incorporated into the government’s National Food Strategy.

The ‘Right to Food’ campaign, launched by Fans Supporting Foodbanks, calls for a change in the law to make access to food a legal right for all in the UK, making Government legally responsible to help people suffering from food poverty.

Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram said:

“It is a grotesque injustice that in one of the richest countries in the world, so many people have to rely on foodbanks to feed themselves and their families. We’ve seen some shocking examples of the same key workers that we clapped for over the summer falling below the poverty line and relying on foodbanks to help.

“The Government has a real chance to right this wrong through the National Food Strategy. They should offer help to the 10 million people living in food poverty by giving them the Right to Food.”

Fans Supporting Foodbanks co-founders Dave Kelly and Ian Byrne MP said:

“We are delighted to have the support of Mayor Rotheram and the leaders of all councils within the Liverpool City Region to put the Right to Food on a legal footing.

“A united North West can be a catalyst for the rest of the country to back the campaign and ensure the Government addresses the fact that millions of people are living without the ability to put food on the table.

“We cannot tinker around the edges of food poverty any longer, we need the systemic change that a Right to Food will bring.”

The National Food Strategy is the first major review of our food system in 75 years and provides government with a real opportunity to fundamentally address the growing crisis of food insecurity and set out a plan for a better, fairer food system.

It is estimated more than 10 million people in the UK are living in food poverty, with ethnic minorities, disabled and older people among those worst affected.

Following the outbreak of Covid-19, the Trussell Trust reported an 81% increase in demand for emergency food parcels from food banks during the last two weeks of March 2020, compared to the same period in 2019.

And over the last five years, the Trussell Trust has also seen a 74% increase in the number of three-day food parcels distributed, with one in seven of those accessing foodbanks in work.

To support the Right to Food campaign, go to: https://www.ianbyrne.org/righttofood-campaign