Council backs need for food
West Lothian Council has backed tentative Holyrood plans for legislation on a public right to food but has warned that more needs to be done to bring the food industry on board for it to work.
There are also concerns that any new laws will overlap with work already underway to improve the access to food by the most vulnerable in society.
The Scottish Government has asked local councils for their views on parliamentary consultation on the proposed Right to Food (Scotland) Bill, which is in early stages.
West Lothian’s anti-poverty manager Elaine Nisbet told a meeting of the council’s executive that access to nutritious food was a significant and growing issue for a large number of households.
This had already been identified preoutbreak of Covid-19 through research last year. The outbreak has shown how widespread the issue is.
Pre- outbreak there was a growing concern of the impact that the forthcoming Brexit would have both on food supply and food prices.
In a report Mrs Nisbet was supportive of the need for legislation.
She said: “There is concern amongst stakeholders in West Lothian that this could cross over with the proposals to make Scotland a Good Food Nation by 2025.
“Analysis of consultation on proposed Good Food Nation Bill shows that respondents identified a need for an independent statutory body to oversee this legislation. Although the Good Food Nation Bill has been delayed due to Covid-19, there would be a need for this proposed Bill to take account of potential overlap.”
The report added: “The Covid- 19 crisis has highlighted the problem faced by many with regard to accessibility of good, nutritious food. Those with disabilities, people for whom English is a second or other language and individuals with religious dietary requirements often face additional accessibility barriers in finding food to meet their needs and accessing information about food.
“Enshrining the right to food in law could have a positive impact here as this would create a duty to ensure universal access to food, and renew focus on action to reduce barriers.”
And Mrs Nisbet highlighted that enshrining access to food in law would place an extra burden both on central government and local authorities, something which could not be sustainably managed without extra financial resources.
And the outbreak has proved that more needs to be done by food producers and retailers to ensure that any legislation could actually bring benefits.
Her report added: “In order to fully realise a right to food, there is a role for business. It would be paramount to secure buy in from supermarkets, food manufacturers and growers.
“The Covid-19 crisis has highlighted the fact that surplus food redistribution alone is not sufficient to meet the food needs of everyone experiencing food insecurity. If businesses were to fully support the implementation of proposed legislation and enact a corporate social responsibility, this could present some increase in cost, so advantages for businesses would need to be identified and promoted, for example, the decrease in food wastage.”