AS Challenge Poverty Week 2019 began, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Claire Baker, is calling on organisations across the region to sign a pledge calling for the right to food to be enshrined in law.

Following a visit to the Lo'gelly Lunches project in Auchterderran Road on Friday, Claire Baker has highlighted increasing demands on food banks and called on the Scottish Government to take action through the forthcoming Good Food Nation Bill, to provide a commitment to everyone in Scotland on the right to food.

The MSP was impressed with the work of the volunteers who have been running the Lo'gelly Lunches project, at the Salvation Army hall, since the late spring which provides a lunch opportunity for people, the chance to meet and get answers to any questions they may have about where assistance for certain issues can be obtained.

Ms Baker, who praised the work of the volunteer team at Lo'gelly Lunches, said: “Food insecurity continues to be a critical issue, with the latest Scottish Health Survey showing single parents and single person households are particularly affected.

“Scottish Labour is working to address the drivers of poverty in our communities by calling for the scrapping of the Universal Credit system and the maximisation of benefits as part of action to better support those in poverty.

“Key to this is the need to ensure everyone has the right to available, accessible and adequate food, which is why the Right to Food must be enshrined in law as part of the forthcoming Good Food Nation Bill".

She added: “This Bill offers an opportunity to address inequality and rising demand for food banks by making a commitment to ensure everyone in our country can access the food they need and reduce the reliance on emergency food aid.

“As part of Challenge Poverty Week I will be writing to organisations across Mid Scotland and Fife asking them to sign up to support the Right to Food as a core part of the Good Food Nation Bill.”