Movie Star, Emma Thompson calls politicians to address starving children in the UK

On the 25th April the Children’s Future Food Inquiry ambassador Dame Emma Thompson joins young ‘Food Ambassadors’ at Westminster to deliver a new report which calls for an independent Children’s Food Watchdog to lead the charge on tackling children’s food insecurity in the UK.

The Children’s Future Food Inquiry is the first attempt to directly and systematically seek the views of children and young people living in poverty across the UK. It has spent 12 months investigating children’s food insecurity in each of the four UK nations, and the project’s final report pulls together direct input from hundreds of young people, the frontline staff, academics and experts.

Dame Emma Thompson, Children’s Future Food Inquiry ambassador, said: “In a wealthy society that claims to value compassion and humanity, how can we tolerate the injustice of millions of children going hungry?

“In face of the government’s refusal to help, the Children’s Future Food Inquiry has brought together hundreds of young people to hear about their lived experience of food poverty, and it’s time we listened to what they say. It’s the younger generation who will deliver the change that’s so urgently needed: we must act now to ensure every child in the UK has their right to food.”

The #Right2Food Charter included in the report presents the Inquiry’s young ‘Food Ambassadors’ (aged between 10 and 18 years) own recommendations for loosening the grip of food poverty on children in the UK and improving their access to enough nutritious food. Their key proposal is for a new Children’s Food Watchdog, which will stand as an independent body with children and young people involved in its leadership.

“We had a referral from a local school asking for assistance as one of their pupils had been caught stealing sachets of ketchup to take home because he was hungry.”

Crookston Community Group, Glasgow – Children’s Future Food Inquiry final report

With the first stage of the Inquiry concluded, the committee (made up of parliamentarians and civil society experts; including the Children and Young People’s Commissioner in Scotland and the President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health) will focus on establishing the Children’s Food Watchdog, and its first action will be to conduct an economic costing of the full range of measures proposed in the report by the young people as solutions for the problems identified by the Inquiry. These measures aim to tackle the differences in policy and provision across the UK with the aim to achieve minimum equitable standards, including extending the entitlement of free school meals to the 23% of children not entitled to them who are missing lunch due to lack of money; ensuring the funding provided for free school meals is actually sufficient to buy a healthy lunch; and ensuring that more families benefit from the fruit and vegetable vouchers provided through Healthy Start (from which currently only 30% of children in poverty benefit).

“If you’re not eating it can really trash your confidence. Makes it hard to concentrate – instead of thinking about what you’re learning, you’re thinking about food.”

Young Food Ambassador – Children’s Future Food Inquiry final report

Calls for robust policy responses to children’s food insecurity come on the same day as reports that a record 1.6 million food bank parcels were given to people in the past year, with more than half a million of these going to children.

“We have spoken to children who have shoplifted for food, scavenged for food from bins, eaten tissue paper to fend off hunger, bartered for food at school, sold drugs for food, and mugged other children for money for food.”

Laurence Guinness, Chief Executive of the Childhood Trust – Children’s Future Food Inquiry final report

The Children’s Future Food Inquiry report will be launched at a Westminster event co-hosted by Dame Emma Thompson and attended by Nadhim Zahawi MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families. Launches in Northern Ireland, Wales, and Scotland will follow in the coming weeks.

The report was initiated by a cross party group of MPs, peers and civil society experts, including Bruce Adamson, the Children and Young People’s Commissioner in Scotland; Professor Russell Viner, President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health; and Matthew Reed, Chief Executive of Marie Curie and Formerly Chief Executive of The Children’s Society. It covers all four UK nations, and looks at the three settings that characterise children’s lives: pre-school, school and home. It presents the views of young people and those who work with them on the barriers to nutritious food for children in the UK, and addresses issues including holiday hunger, unhealthy food marketing and the stigma attached to free school meals.

“I didn’t have any breakfast cos there was nothing in the fridge. I don’t eat breakfast much anyway. When we don’t have any food for dinner my Dad will go out to borrow money from our neighbour.”

Girl, 11 – Children’s Future Food Inquiry final report

The Inquiry’s evidence was gathered from workshops with nearly 400 children in 13 different locations around the UK, an academic review of child food insecurity, polling of young people 11-18 years, more than 100 submissions of evidence from people working with children, a UK-wide policy review and secondary analysis of government data on the affordability of a healthy diet.

“I’d say to the government to make sure all children have the same amount of food no matter what their backgrounds are, where they come from, what school they go to, their behaviour or anything.  Make sure that all youth has the same amount of food, and has enough.”

Young Food Ambassador – Children’s Future Food Inquiry