The right to food movement means a lot to me. I got involved earlier this year. Jeremy Corbyn and Yiannis Varoufakis were speaking at our university. At this talk, Azaria, a close coursemate of mine, met a teacher at the university, Sharon Noonan-Gunning, who introduced her to the movement. Azaria later asked if I would like to be involved, and I said yes. We were both later added to a group chat for the organising team for the National Right to Food Conference at the Marylebone campus that took place last month. We regularly joined meetings filled with other passionate people determined to make a difference. Within this organising team, we were given a catalyst to help achieve something great, being given roles and responsibilities that truly helped us thrive. We were invited by Sharon to visit the trade union headquarters, where we sat and met with a representative of a large body of trade unions to help garner their support for the movement. As well as this, on the day of the conference, we were asked to take notes and assist with the delegates. I was given the privilege to take notes during a panel that Zara Sultana and many other brilliant minds spoke at. As an International Relations student this was a huge honour for me.
For me, a legal right to food means a promise, a promise that all people from all backgrounds and circumstances have a right and have access to enough nutritious food for them to not just survive but to thrive. Our economy isn’t great at the moment, and prices are rising like water every day, threatening to drown us in their expense, and thus those who were already struggling for food are now suffering even more and having to resort to cheap, low-nutrient options, food banks and donations. That is not a dignified life; it is not a life I would want for anyone, good or bad, and every time I would witness food poverty in the past, my throat would tighten at the idea of being powerless to this reality. This movement has helped me breathe and feel like I can take action against the cruel and unnecessary reality of our world. A right to food isn’t just an idea or a legal right; it’s a moral responsibility that we all should fight for and uphold, not just for ourselves, but for our neighbours and strangers, a right to food for all.
Eddie Dean