FIR believes the right to food is a human right, directly linked to our social rights. We have set up a joint platform for food activists and faith-based groups who want to shift the narrative on community and social nutrition away from charitisation towards political engagement. The institutionalisation of food-banks normalises society to accept hunger as an individual problem to be solved by charity – instead of recognising that access to food is a human right.

Whilst they are needed, is it possible to reimagine foodbanks as ‘food rights centres’? Our intention is to build a network based on solidarity and collectivism through political engagement and social justice activism. Our hope is to shift the discourse away from charity (and the resulting designation of those who are deserving or undeserving) towards a narrative politically engaging with the communities it serves. 

The notion of Collective Care has been commonplace in working-class communities for decades, even more so since 2010 and the tory adoption of austerity measures. Examples of collective solidarity are the mills of the 19th century, the miners of the 20th and the Blank Panther movement in the USA. We often talk about collectivism and solidarity in relation to community support, but Food Inequalities Rebellion rejects the idea of volunteerism supplanting the social state. Free labour is never free and the social cost is greater among working-class communities. 

To that end we hosted an event with respected food policy professor Martin Caraher in 2018. At this inaugural public meeting we wanted to open a ‘critical’ conversation in London about food inequality in all its forms – such as food poverty, its impacts on health and local access. We consider it critical in thinking and in timing, given the great levels of inequality that exist in London.

We invited nutrition practitioners, academics, food-workers, union members, community and social media activists to link up to find ways to influence policy and engage with activism to ensure Londoner’s voices are heard by policymakers.