Good Food Nation and Human Rights
- Written by: Chloë Trew — Scottish Human Rights Commission — Participation Co-ordinator
- Published: 24th January 2019
Would you like to find out more about how human rights and food are connected?
Have you been affected by issues such as food poverty and poor diet?
Like many people and organisations at the moment, the Scottish Human Rights Commission is thinking about new proposals from the Scottish Government about how to make Scotland a “Good Food Nation” (this link will take you away from our website).
The Commission is holding an event on Monday 18th February, 10:30am – 2:30 pm at our offices at 99 Bridgeside House, McDonald Road, Edinburgh, EH7 4NY.
We’d like to hear from people who have lived experience of some of the following:
- Poor health because of diet
- Not getting enough to eat or not being sure about whether the next meal is coming from because of money worries
- Using a foodbank or needing an emergency food parcel
- Finding it hard to access food, perhaps because you live in a remote and rural area or you rely on others to cook and prepare food
- Not being able to access, cook or prepare food in the way that you’d like
- Growing food or finding it hard to grow food
- Working directly in food production and processing and with a view that it could be done differently
- Concerned about the environmental impacts of food production and distribution
We have lots to share about what human rights law says about food, but we know that people who experience difficulties or have concerns around food will better understand the issues in Scotland and have many ideas about how things can be better.
We hope that people will get something out of coming to meet with us, especially if they would like to find out more about human rights. We’re also looking at ways in which we can build longer-lasting relationships with people who have lived experience of some common rights issues in Scotland so that we can understand these better, and so that we can support people to know their rights. Feel free to ask us about these on the day.
On the day, we will be doing some fun and participatory activities to talk about what the right to food means, and find out your thoughts about what the Scottish Government should do to make this real.
If you’d like to come along, please contact Chloë Trew, Participation Co-ordinator at the Commission on chloe.trew@scottishhumanrights.com or by phone on 0131 297 5750. We can support you with travel expenses and any care or childcare costs that your attendance might incur. We’ll provide refreshments and lunch. We will be happy to support you with any accessibility or dietary needs you might have.
We will also let you know how what you say on the day is has an impact on what we say to the Scottish Government and we will share our full response to the Good Food Nation consultation with you, as well as an accessible summary. This might not be until after the end of the consultation period in March.
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