It’s time for the Government to commit to a proper measure of food insecurity

Written by Lynne Stubbings, NFWI Chair 

Today I have written to the Prime Minister, asking her to commit to measuring the prevalence of food insecurity in the UK. The work that has been done on this so far in the UK is patchy at best; I have urged her to commit instead to ongoing and robust measurement. Without it, we cannot hope to find proper solutions to the problem of hunger in this country.

As the largest women’s organisation in the UK, the Women’s Institute (WI) retains a strong grassroots ethos at the core of all policy and campaigning work. Over its 103 year history, the WI has worked across a wide-ranging portfolio of issues. As Chair of the National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI), I am proud to say that all WI campaigns are member-led. The issues we work on reflect the concerns of nearly 220,000 members who are committed to realising the potential of an active and informed civic society.

In 2016 a resolution was passed by the membership which calls for the WI to work to tackle the issue of food insecurity. WI members across the country are organising discussion events to learn about the issue of food insecurity, and to learn how this can be tackled at the local and systemic levels. Through this work WI members have been disappointed at both the lack and quality of statistics available which measure the extent of the problem.

There are easy and validated tools for collecting data on food insecurity which are already in use in other countries. For example in the United States, the Department of Agriculture operates the Household Food Insecurity Survey Module. At the United Nations the Food and Agricultural Organisation has developed a Food Insecurity Experience Scale. Proper implementation of these tools in existing surveys would allow robust and effective measurement.

By committing to measure household food insecurity in the UK, the government would also be working towards meeting its obligations under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals – especially Goal Two, which calls for an end to hunger, achieving food security and improving nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture.

Without proper measurement it is clear that both the Government and civil society are ill-equipped to understand the full extent of food insecurity. Only once the true scale of the problem is known do we stand a chance of responding effectively, and ensuring that no-one goes hungry in the UK.

You can read the full letter here.