The scourge of food Insecurity in a wealthy nation
Food insecurity is a new normal that millions of every day, ordinary citizens in western countries now have to confront as a new reality. Food insecurity is defined in opposition to food security which “exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. “ (1996, World Food Summit, FAO 2013).Never in the years of studying for my graduate and undergraduate degrees in economics some years ago, where we discussed economic models and development policies, did I envisage that time would come when hunger for millions of children (and adults) in the UK would be a reality. Back then, poor people, were not working people. Poor people were long term unemployed, who were still provided with enough income by the state, to access basic foods for sustenance. Back then we were raised to believe that a pervasive social security safety net existed in the UK, which would catch any person in dire circumstances, providing for their basic needs of food, shelter, access to a free education and free health service at the point of contact.
These fundamentals were what I and many others saw as a human right, it was a bedrock of our Britishness. It was then at least, untenable that hundreds of thousands of people could be homeless, that millions more, including families would live in temporary or insecure accommodation. It seemed so inconceivable that this could not be the case, that an alternate, possible reality never came to the forefront of my consciousness. We know that “the number of undernourished people reached 821 million [globally] in 2017, [the majority in developing countries]” (UNDP 2020). So, food insecurity is perceived as a distant problem, located in distant lands. But food insecurity and hunger are instead very much now an endemic problem in the UK, and other very wealthy states. Knowing there is hunger in the midst of so much wealth is obscene.
Years before Covid-19 hit the UK, food banks, courtesy in no small measure to ideological ‘austerity,’ were an increasing source of support for the working poor, who each week turn to these often social and charitable enterprises for access to food and essential toiletries. With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic that demand for charitable food has increased exponentially in the UK. The Independent Food Aid Network has estimated footfall increase at food banks of up to 300% in recent weeks. (Guardian April 2020). In the same article the Food Foundation documented that over 1.5 million Britons reported not eating for a whole day due to lack of access to money or food.
For many citizens there is a sense of powerlessness to change the socio-economic workings of our liberal democracy to transform our current economies to make them work more effectively for the poor and working people of all descriptions- from those in manual labour, unskilled, semi-skilled, as well as the technical and professional sectors of the economy. Are we bereft of ideas, or a willingness to fundamentally tackle the issue of the working poor, which seems Dickensian in 21st century UK! It seems to me there is also sadly an underlying meanness of spirit which appears to have emerged out of the financial crisis of 2007–09, the ramifications of which are still being felt today, in which national debates reinforced a sentiment that tax payers are against social security for people who they perceive are failing (or refuse) to contribute their labour.
I get that frustration. It is difficult to find solutions for effective social protection, that takes care of the needy, but avoids waste, duplication mis-use and corruption. But I think fundamental to a civilized society is that there is social security available in a humane way; even if estimated hundreds of thousands cheat the system! After all, why should an estimated 6 million working poorer people suffer degradation and hunger because perhaps five hundred thousand are cheating? I think society has to accept, the potential loss through duplicity of some as a necessary price to pay for the protection of millions of others.
Our current system of social safety net does not work and as a consequence, millions of hard-working ordinary people are poor. At the same time of screwing down on our social security, past and current British governments have allowed the scourge of zero-hour contracts, poorly paid and insecure jobs to flourish; to the profit of very large businesses and medium sized businesses. This cannot be right.
Millions of children who are reliant on the welfare state, through no fault of their own, whether their parents work for low incomes or are unemployed, grow up to be fully committed and useful, working members of our society as adults, years later. So why are we (voting citizens of today) playing a role in their suffering now, through electing governments which decimate their access to decent housing and sufficient food? Mostly people, families fall into hardship, they don’t willingly climb into destitution.
Of course, food insecurity has been core issue in the developing world for many decades and rightly one of the key focuses galvanising the MDGs and current SDG 2 to eradicate hunger. Those of us, who are aware, citizens or residents in very wealthy countries have to increasingly raise global awareness that this scourge is ever present in our countries. We need to engage in debate, push for policies, use our votes and voices effectively, support those agencies (food banks and charities) at the forefront of dealing with the domestic hunger crisis — if we are to effect change. It seems trite to say, but food insecurity in the developed world will not be eradicated without concerted effort on many of our parts. including most fundamentally our governments.
