Comprising of Motion 31 and amendments
Congress believes that nobody should live in a state of food insecurity and that urgent government action is needed to lift people in the UK out of food poverty and prevent others from falling into it.
Congress recognises that food poverty has significant implications for public health and well-being. It can lead to inadequate nutrition, increased risk of diet-related diseases, and exacerbate health inequalities. Research shows that people living in food insecure households are more likely to become overweight. Congress reinforces that, as with linked levels of physical inactivity, this is not the fault of poor individual decisions. On the contrary, it reflects a failure of public policy making.
Congress applauds the work of campaigners and politicians fighting for the “Right to Food” in their communities and at Westminster.
Congress supports the inclusion of a ‘right to food’ in UK law which would provide a framework for tackling food poverty and promoting food security.
Congress is disappointed that an opportunity to take the recommendations of the Henry Dimbleby plan for a national food strategy was not developed into a promised White Paper in 2022 which would have included measures to:
i. escape the junk food cycle and protect the NHS
ii. reduce diet related inequality
iii. make the best use of our land
iv. create a long-term shift in our food culture.
Congress calls on the TUC to campaign for:
a. a comprehensive food strategy white paper
b. evidence-based agricultural and food production policies, to ensure food is affordable, healthy, and nature positive
c. a statutory right to accessible, affordable and nutritious food
d. universal free school meals for all primary and secondary children and young people
e. the establishment of a minister for food to work across the DHSC and Defra.
Mover: British Dietetic Association
Seconder: Educational Institute of Scotland
Supporters: Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, Fire Brigades Union