Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
No Scots should be going hungry
When we went into lockdown in March, I doubt many of us realised the full and devastating impact this ongoing pandemic would have; not only on our health and wellbeing but on the future implications for jobs and the economy.
As well as appreciating the efforts of our front-line workers during these difficult times, Covid-19 has also focused our minds on the most vulnerable in our society.
The ongoing efforts by local churches and charitable organisations, and the selfless time given up by many volunteers, are not only commendable but essential to many in our communities.
Whilst food insecurity was growing in recent years, it is now being experienced more than ever by families in Scotland as workers continue to lose income very suddenly, or as people lose their ability to acquire food, for example, if they have been shielding.
North Lanarkshire Council is one of the few local authorities that provides food support all year round to vulnerable children via the invaluable Club 365; however, this does not happen in all areas.
At this time of crisis the availability of food, which many of us have taken for granted, has been shown to be a vital issue.
Given its critical importance, food policy has not been given the priority it deserves by the Scottish Government. According to our international obligations we all have a right to food; however, it is not enshrined in Scots law as it is in many other countries.
I felt it was therefore timely and necessary to lodge a proposal for a bill to enshrine the right to food into law in Scotland as recognised by the United Nations.
The bill, entitled Right to Food (Scotland) Bill, also seeks to establish an independent statutory body to oversee food policy to ensure no one goes hungry in Scotland.
The passage of this bill would mean that it would be the State’s responsibility to ensure that food is available, accessible and adequate for everyone.
The Scottish Food Coalition firmly believes that a direct incorporation of the right to food in Scotland’s domestic laws is necessary.
Other ways in which the bill would be effective are; ensuring that businesses play their part in the sale of safe, nutritious food for all; and the government taking action to tackle low pay in the food industry and ensuring a compassionate system of social security which enables people to eat well and access food with dignity.
A consultation on the bill is running until September 15 and I urge everyone to respond to inform the process and help turn this proposal into a reality.
Details on the consultation and further information on the bill proposals can be found on www:// righttofoodscotland. wixsite. com/ righttofood or at the consultation page on the Scottish Parliament website at https://www.parliament.scot/ parliamentarybusiness/Bills/115201.aspx.
No one should be going hungry in a wealthy nation like Scotland and by enshrining the internationally recognised right to food in Scots Law we can send a clear message that hunger has no place in modern Scotland.