The All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Hunger and Food Poverty in Britain
I have features a couple of stories about opportunities to influence things in terms of policy this week in relation to the RSN manifesto – there is a rural services angle here in the context of the APPG on Hunger and Food Poverty. The blurb on the inquiry tells us:
The rising costs of housing, food and fuel have had an adverse impact on households’ ability to buy and cook meals. Since 2003 food, fuel and housing costs have all increased at a greater rate than earnings, with food (46.4%) and fuel costs (154%) increasing by a significantly greater amount than both earnings (27.9%)and overall inflation (37.7%). Oil and food price spikes will have contributed disproportionately to these increases. This is likely to have had a greater negative impact on living standards for the poorest households.
Just 2% of edible surplus food generated by food retailers, manufacturers and suppliers that is fit for consumption, is currently redistributed. 98% of this surplus food is currently turned into compost or energy, or disposed of in landfill.