COST OF LIVING CRISIS: No family should go hungry in Scotland, says Highlands and Islands Labour MSP Rhoda Grant as she highlights Challenge Poverty Week
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No one should live in the grip of poverty in today's Scotland, Highlands and Islands Labour MSP Rhoda Grant has declared.
Mrs Grant has also called on the Scottish Government to give more funding to organisations such as food banks which are seeing unprecedented demand.
As Challenge Poverty Week got off to a start, Mrs Grant said this year the cost of living crisis posed a greater threat to people living on low incomes.
She believed everyone in Scotland should have access to healthy food.
"Today we hear that teachers reported that more than half of their pupils were coming to school hungry, 24 per cent of children are in poverty in Scotland and already we’re reading and hearing of food banks running out of food due to demand," she said.
"Many people in Scotland believe in justice and compassion and I believe ending poverty must be a top priority for all levels of government."
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She said access to food was a basic human right and her proposed Private Member’s Bill sought to enshrine the Right to Food in Scots Law.
"We need to ensure that people have access to healthy and nutritious food so that they and their families do not go hungry nor rely on food banks," she said.
"It is more pertinent now than ever, during a cost of living crisis, when people are making a stark choice between heating and eating, that we can support them and ensure people do not go hungry.
"The Scottish Government can help food banks and food shares by ensuring they are properly funded to meet the needs of the people who are coming to their doors every week.
"Just last week, I again contacted the Scottish Government appealing for more funding for these organisations who are seeing unprecedented demand.”
"We must take the appropriate action now and hopefully one day, everyone can access food for themselves and their families without relying on food banks and charities."
