The following MSPs supported my final proposal:
Labour MSPs:
Iain Gray
Mark Griffin
Johann Lamont
Alex Rowley
David Stewart
Rhoda Grant
James Kelly
Pauline McNeill
Monica Lennon
Jackie Baillie
Jenny Marra
Neil Bibby
Sarah Boyack
Richard Leonard
Anas Sarwar
Mary Fee
Claire Baker
Colin Smyth
Neil Findlay
Claudia Beamish
Lewis Macdonald
Daniel Johnson
Green MSPs:
John Finnie
Alison Johnstone
Liberal Democrat MSPs:
Willie Rennie
Independent MSPs:
Andy Wightman
Mark McDonald
SNP MSPs:
Fulton Macgregor
Conservative MSPs:
-
Selected endorsements for my Bill are shown below:
Nourish Scotland
It's hugely encouraging to see widespread support for putting the right to food into Scots law. COVID-19 coupled with the uncertainties of Brexit have put even greater strain on a food system long plagued by high-levels of food insecurity, diet-related illness, a lack of resilience in our supply chains, and production practices that harm our natural world.
We need to reframe the thinking around our food system because inaction across successive political generations has led to the problems we are seeing now. The right to food provides a coherent framework for rights-based food policy, enabling a system-wide approach.
We want a food system that works for everyone in Scotland. We are glad this issue is being given greater recognition on the political agenda and we look forward to working with the parties as this Bill progresses. We hope the resounding support outlined in this consultation will inform discussions going forward.
- Pete Ritchie, Director of Nourish Scotland
includem
includem fully endorses the Right to Food (Scotland) Bill.
We have firsthand experience of seeing parents struggling to be able to put food on the table and going without food for the sake of their children and an increasing reliance on foodbanks.
This is our collective shame.
Our own research has shown that 49% of families struggle to put food on the table on a regular basis which increases to 60% for those relying on social security with the situation increasing due to the impact of COVID-19.
By enshrining food as a basic human right, we hope to see the influence and change needed across government directorates and Scottish industries which requires both co-ordination and the authority to impose actions.
We look forward to playing our part.
Scottish Trade Union Congress
It should be unthinkable that in 2021 tens of thousands of people in Scotland are forced to rely on food banks to feed themselves and their families.
Let’s be clear, Scotland is not suffering a food shortage. However, a lack of fair work and decent housing, a punitive and inadequate welfare system, and years of cuts to public services means too many people simply don’t have sufficient income to buy food.
By incorporating the right to food into Scots law, Elaine Smith’s Bill could help address the underlying causes of rising food bank use rather than relying on charities to respond to food poverty.
- Rozanne Foyer, STUC General Secretary
On March 10 2021, I gained sufficient support from MSPs to introduce the proposed Right to Food (Scotland Bill).