What next for children’s food?

On July 15th 2020, The Food Foundation held a launch of a new report assessing what progress has been made to tackle children’s food insecurity over the last year, and identifying the most urgent priorities for policy-makers and parliamentarians.

The recording of the webinar is available in full here, and as are the slides.

Last year 15 young food ambassadors (aged 10-18 years) led the Children’s Future Food Inquiry, bravely sharing their experiences of food poverty with parliamentarians.

One year on, and Covid-19 has shone a spotlight on the continued struggle that many families face to secure enough nutritious food.

Food Foundation figures show that food insecurity in households with children has doubled compared with this time last year, and the Trussell Trust have reported a shocking 121% increase in demand from children for food bank services.

The event was chaired by Sharon Hodgson MP (@SharonHodgsonM), Co-chair of the Children’s Future Food Inquiry, and included a briefing on the findings of the new report and the impact of Covid-19. We also heard contributions from MPs on the challenges facing families in their local areas.

Several young food ambassadors joined us to re-launch their Right2Food Charter, which they have updated in light of Covid-19.  It sets out their recommendations for loosening the grip of food insecurity on children in the UK and improving their access to enough nutritious food.