We all have a right to food. Yet despite the UK Government making this commitment on the international stage, its own food system is not currently working for everyone.
Austerity has led food bank use in the UK to increase by almost four-fold since 2012, and there are now approximately 2,000 food banks across the country, up from just 29 at the height of the financial crisis in 2008. But this is only the tip of the iceberg: many in food poverty fall under the radar.
Food poverty results from rising poverty levels more broadly. To tackle food poverty we need to address the root causes that push people into poverty. This means ending austerity. The links between austerity and poverty have long been identified by civil society, in addition to rising living costs, stagnant wages, and high-cost housing market. In February of 2019, the work and pensions secretary Amber Rudd MP admitted that the UK’s new welfare system, Universal Credit, is pushing people to use food banks.
