Human rights group Amnesty International has urged British Prime Minister Andy Burnham to introduce a Right to Food Bill after a poll showed that at least three in four people living in the UK (roughly 75 per cent of the population) are worried about food affordability or know people who are.
In a post on the rights group UK website on Saturday, Amnesty found that three-quarters of people living in the UK are worried about the affordability of food amid a looming cost-of-living crisis. “More than 14 million people are living in food poverty in the UK,” Amnesty International said.
It found that 70 per cent of respondents had changed their eating and shopping habits to accommodate rising food costs, while 82 per cent agreed that access to food should be a legal right. Another 66 per cent said the “next generation will find food less affordable than they do.”
Jen Clark, Amnesty International UK’s economic, social and cultural rights lead, said “no one should be forced to go hungry” in a country “as wealthy as the UK.”
“The polling shows that up and down the country people are worried about being able to afford the food they and their families need, and many fear the next generation will face an even greater struggle,” Ms Clark said in a statement.
That many people living in the UK were worried about the cost of their next meal, according to Ms Clark, showed the direness of the situation.
“Having the food you need is a basic human right and it must be guaranteed in law. The fact that more than eight in ten people say there should be a legal right to food shows the strength of public concern about this issue,” she said.