With the general election coming up on the 4th July, Lewes District Emergency Food network have written to candidates to ask what they’ll do if elected to address the increasing demand for emergency food in Lewes District. See our full letter below:
Dear Candidate,
I am writing to you on behalf of Lewes District Emergency Food Network. We represent 10 emergency and community food projects across the district, supporting up to 700 households every week with emergency food. Beyond food support, projects also offer advice, guidance and signposting to help people navigate the mounting challenges they have been facing throughout the cost-of-living crisis. Importantly, many projects are also vital social spaces, with free-to-access community cafes providing nourishing food, refreshments and an increased feeling of community connection.
The national trend of increasing food insecurity since the pandemic – as recorded by the Food Foundation’s Food Insecurity tracker – is reflected on a local level. Since 2021, there has been an increase of 30-40% in households being supported by our network, not to mention the increasing numbers of pop-up pantries and community fridges that provide more informal support. In the face of funding instability and increasing demand, multiple projects have been forced to put temporary measures in place to limit membership in order to continue operating in recent months.
We know that this is just the tip of the iceberg. The recent Department of Work & Pension’s Family Resources Survey found that as many as 86% of households reporting severe food insecurity (over the previous 30 days) did not use a food bank.
The toll that this widespread financial insecurity is taking on local communities cannot be understated. Participants in Lewes District Food Partnership’s ‘Feeling the Pinch’ project – a project to centre the lived experiences of those most affected by the cost-of-living crisis – cited the impacts of financial struggles on mental and physical health, relationships and sense of community connection. One Feeling the Pinch participant summed up: “How much more productivity do they [the government] suppose they can get from a society which is at breaking point?”.
We are working in partnership with local government, community actors and frontline service providers to develop more dignified and sustainable models of community food support. However, there is urgent need for national action to address the underlying causes of emergency food provision.
Given this context, we are inviting you as a candidate to be the MP for Lewes to share how you will address the following priorities:
Engaging with local people and local projects
- Lewes District Emergency Food Network meets every six weeks to share best practice and common challenges. If elected, will you agree to meet with our network to hear experiences of projects working on the frontline of the cost-of-living crisis?
- Lewes District Food Partnership are expanding the Feeling the Pinch project to foreground the expertise of people with lived experience to improve local pathways of accessing support. The district and county council are key stakeholders in this work. If elected, will you commit to engaging with the ‘Pinch Points’ project and listening to the voices of people most affected by the cost-of-living crisis?
Fighting poverty
- Use of emergency food provision in Lewes District has increased massively over the last decade. Why do you think this is, and what will you personally do to make reducing the need for emergency food provision a priority in parliament if you are elected?
- 5 out of 6 low-income households on Universal Credit are going without essentials. 66% of the public think the basic rate of Universal Credit is too low. Do you agree with the principle of an ‘essentials guarantee’ – that benefits should be set at a high enough level that households avoid destitution?
Supporting families and children
- In Lewes District, only 63% of people eligible for Healthy Start are currently accessing this vital support. Will you commit to auto-enrolment of government nutritional support programmes such as Free School Meals and Healthy Start?
- According to a recent publication by the Food Foundation, type 2 diabetes in young people has tripled since 2012, obesity amongst 10-11 year olds has increased by 30% since 2006 and the average height of five year olds has decreased consistently since 2015. What will you do if elected to ensure that every child, irrespective of background, household income or age, has access to a nutritious meal every day in nursery or school? What will you do if elected to increase access to healthy, affordable food for low-income families?
Sustainable funding for local communities
- The Household Support Fund has been a lifeline for community food providers in Lewes District, and has enabled the Food Partnership to invest in local community resilience through small grants. However, the uncertainty surrounding the renewal of the fund has left projects unable to plan for the future. How will you ensure that local community initiatives have access to sustainable and reliable funding streams?
We thank you for taking the time to read our letter and look forward to reading your responses, which will be publicly shared with our growing network of individuals and partner organisations in Lewes District.
For more information about the Lewes District Emergency Food Network, you can visit our website here: Accessing Emergency Food & Resources – Lewes District Food Partnership
Yours sincerely,
Nancy Wilson
On behalf of the Lewes District Emergency Food Network