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Fabian Commission publishes food poverty report after Sheffield hearing

Fabian Commission on Food and Poverty publishes new report Hungry for Change after event hosted by Grantham Centre. 

Hungry for Change

The Fabian Commission on Food and Poverty has published Hungry for Change, a report on food and poverty.

Hungry for Change cover
Hungry for Change is the new report on food and poverty by the Fabian Commission.

The Grantham Centre hosted the Fabian Commission’s 4th hearing. Co-hosting were the University of Sheffield’s Department of Geography and the Research Exchange for the Social Sciences.

Testimony from experts who spoke at the hearings has informed Hungry for Change. It also draws from the experiences of people currently experiencing food poverty in the UK.

The Commission’s recommendations include a pilot tax on sugary drinks, a review of advertising codes and new systems for local authorities.

Household food insecurity

In publishing the report on the Fabian Society website, its author Cameron Tait explained its importance.

“There are multiple cases of parents – usually mothers  – going hungry to feed their children or having to prioritise calories over nutrients to afford their weekly food shop. Many people are feeling a deep sense of anxiety from the struggle to manage serious squeezes in household budgets that arises from the cost of living rising faster than income.

“The Commission defines this state of living as ‘household food insecurity’: the inability to acquire or consume an adequate quality or sufficient quantity of food in socially acceptable ways, or the uncertainty that one will be able to do so. But a lack of official measurement means nobody can be clear how many people are affected by household food insecurity in the UK.

“Reducing and eventually ending household food insecurity needs an active approach from government to tackle its structural drivers, and the Commission have produced a 14 point plan for how the government can create a food system that works for people on and near the breadline.”