Causes of food insecurity have been ignored, says Karl Rosie
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Parliamentary candidate candidate Karl Rosie is calling for more to be done to tackle food insecurity.
Mr Rosie, who is contesting the Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross seat for the SNP at next month’s general election, said welfare reforms under the Conservatives had served only to target the most vulnerable in society.
He highlighted the recent State of Hunger report published by the Trussell Trust – a charity working to end hunger and poverty in the UK – which revealed that eight to 10 per cent of households in the UK are “food insecure”, with two per cent of households using a food bank in 2018/19.
“The root causes of food insecurity have long been ignored by the UK Government,” said Mr Rosie, a Thurso and Northwest Caithness councillor. “The inadequate benefits system currently sees recipients of Universal Credit face a long five-week wait for their first payment, and even then it is not enough to afford a decent standard of living.
“Tory welfare reform – which, let’s not forget, the Liberal Democrats voted in favour of – only works to target the country’s most vulnerable. It’s time to end the poverty cycle and implement long-term solutions to tackle food insecurity once and for all.”
The Caithness Community Planning Partnership recently published a report on food insecurity in Thurso in which it was able to identify the consequences of benefit delays/changes and unstable work hours to remote communities.
Mr Rosie said: “Food insecurity in rural communities is complex. Access to healthy, inexpensive food can often be an issue as supermarkets may not be accessible due to the cost of transport and/or lack of services in the evenings and weekends.
The next government needs to get rid of Universal Credit, reinstate the value of benefits and abolish zero-hour contracts.
“Instead, people may resort to shopping in convenience stores where there are limited healthy options and food prices are higher.
“There is also a real absence of food assistance available in remote areas. Communal eating opportunities have been shown to be beneficial as they help to remove the stigma around receiving food aid by bringing people together to socialise around food.
“In the same year that the shambolic system of Universal Credit was implemented, the Scottish Government introduced the Scottish Welfare Fund to mitigate cuts and tackle food insecurity. This fund can work to supply emergency food payments via crisis grants.
“In the Highlands alone, a staggering 500 crisis grants were issued between April and June this year. These figures prove that Tory welfare reform continues to push people into poverty.
“The next government needs to get rid of Universal Credit, reinstate the value of benefits and abolish zero-hour contracts.
“Resolving social inequality issues is a core part of my campaign and, if elected, addressing food insecurity to the benefit of our remote communities will be at the top of my agenda.”
