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Campaign and petition email responses | Tackle the Cost of Living Crisis Using Surplus Food

Campaign and petition email responses

Tackle the Cost of Living Crisis Using Surplus Food

Thank you for raising the FareShare's Cost of Living Appeal campaign. The sheer quantity of food waste is a pressing concern and amid a cost of living crisis, it is essential those vulnerable are not having to choose between heating and eating.

 

The SNP have consistently called for support for the most vulnerable in Westminster, as well as a proper food waste plan to prevent unnecessary food going to waste when it could be given to those struggling & starving in this cost-of-living crisis.

 

Of the 57 crossparty MPs that have signed the Fareshare Letter, 15 are SNP MPs

 

Furthermore, Early Day Motion 1497 on 'Support to tackle food waste' was co-signed by 7 SNP MPs out of 21 cross-party supporting parliamentarians. The EDM praised FareShare for their tireless work, acknowledged the level of food waste whilst calling for more UK Government action.

 

SNP Fair Work and Employment spokesperson Chris Stephens MP raised Fareshare’s campaign in June 2022, where he said: “343,000 meals were redistributed in Glasgow South West thanks to FareShare and other charitable organisations, yet FareShare says that its Government funding has been cut. Does the Secretary of State intend to meet FareShare and concerned Members of the House to discuss its funding, so that we can support its #FoodOnPlates campaign”

 

In November 2022, Chris Stephens MP said: “The number of food bank parcels handed out by the Trussell Trust has doubled since 2015 as a direct consequence of austerity. Can the Minister assure the House that there will be no further return to austerity so that we can tackle the root causes of food poverty and the cost of living?”.

 

The SNP have consistently called for support for the most vulnerable in Westminster, a proper food waste plan to prevent unnecessary food going to waste when it could be given to those struggling & starving in this cost-of-living crisis.

 

The UK government has pledged to reduce food waste by 20% by 2025 to address surplus food from the retail and manufacturing sectors. With the Environment Bill committing to eliminate food waste from landfills by 2030 – targets which SNP MPs are in support of.

 

In 2016, the Scottish Government’s Making Things Last strategy announced an ambitious new target to reduce per capita food waste in Scotland by 33% (from 2013 levels) by 2025. This target was the first of its kind in Europe and recognised the critical role of food waste reduction in the fight against climate change and the transition to a more circular, resource efficient economy.

 

This has been set out further by the Scottish Government in its Climate Change Plan: The Third Report on Proposals and Policies 2018-2032, where it was announced that it would develop a National Food Waste Action Plan to reach the 33% target. As of January 2025, Scotland will ban the landfilling of biodegradable municipal waste to support the continued reduction in carbon emissions and Scotland’s climate targets.

 

I and my fellow SNP MPs will continue to urge the UK Government to support the most vulnerable in these times of permacrisis, to match the more ambitious Scottish Government’s environmental targets to lower carbon emissions and accelerate the UK Government’s plan to reduce food waste by five years to match the Scottish Government’s targets.

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@StewartMcDonald on Twitter

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