The NFWI ‘s public affairs team write about the launch
of the Great Food Debates II, which focuses on food poverty, and the new toolkit
to help members organise food poverty debates.
Last week we launched the Great Food Debates II with
an event in Parliament. The audience, who came from across the UK, bravely battled
their way through the snow to attend a fascinating discussion on how we can
work to stop food poverty in the United Kingdom.
The Great Food Debates II form the second phase
of the Food Matters campaign, and follow on from the first Great Food Debate, which saw WIs and county federations
organise over a hundred food discussion events to consider the issue of the
country’s food security.
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| Lynne Stubbings with panellists Denise Bentley, Prof. Liz Dowler, Carmel McConnell MBE, and Ann Jones |
At the launch event Lynne Stubbings, NFWI Chair, chaired a panel of
inspiring speakers, including Frank Field MP DL, Chair of the House of Commons’
Work and Pensions Select Committee.
The other members of the panel were: Ann Jones, Public Affairs
Chair of the NFWI; Denise Bentley, founder of the First Love Foundation, which
runs the Tower Hamlets food bank; Prof Liz Dowler, a highly respected academic
on the issue of food poverty; and Carmel McConnell MBE, founder and CEO of
Magic Breakfast.
We were also happy to welcome a number of parliamentarians to the
event, including Emma Lewell-Buck MP who told us about her bill currently going
through Parliament, which would require the Government to measure household
food insecurity. Our thanks also go to Ruth George MP, Sandy Martin MP, and
Baroness Lister for joining us and contributing to the discussion.
Ann Jones, Public Affairs Chair of the NFWI, responded on behalf of
the WI and outlined the plan of action.
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| A quote from Ann Jones at the launch in Parliament |
As
Ann Jones outlined at the launch, for the Great Food Debates II the NFWI is
encouraging WIs and federations to organise debates on the topic of food
poverty so that we can consider what steps need to be taken to ensure everyone
has access to affordable, healthy food. Holding
a debate will allow you to learn about the issue of food poverty; particularly
how it affects your local community, and to discuss the solutions to this
problem.
The toolkit we are
launching today will act as an aid to organising your debate, and it includes
background information, discussion points, and actions your WI or federation
can take to help tackle the issue in your local area.
This toolkit is part of
the Food Matters campaign which was launched in 2016 in response to that year’s
successful resolution which called on the NFWI to work to address the issues of
both food waste and food poverty. The campaign has had a first phase focussing
on food waste and a second on food poverty. We are close to completing work on
the food waste phase, and have secured some very positive changes to policy and
practice from supermarkets in order to reduce food waste.
Once you have learnt
more about the issues of food poverty by hosting a WI Food Poverty Debate, we
hope that you will be inspired to take action in your community. There are a
number of things you could do, and these are outlined in the toolkit.
If you have any questions, please don’t
hesitate to email the team on pa@nfwi.org.uk
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