Food Poverty Action Plan

Monday 4th March 2019

Last May in central Manchester a group of people all came together with one aim – fighting food poverty in Greater Manchester. The meeting saw Individuals with their own experiences of Food Poverty and representatives from churches, charities and businesses, pledge to give their time and experiences to the newly formed Greater Manchester Food Poverty Alliance.

The group set themselves an ambitious target to produce a Food Poverty Action Plan and nine months later they are ready to launch it. The Diocese of Salford is proud to support the alliance and Bishop John has chaired one of the groups that have helped steer the direction of the plan.

The Greater Manchester Food Poverty Alliance has been working with over 100 people and organisations from every borough in Greater Manchester to co-produce this Food Poverty Action Plan. It will be a comprehensive set of aims and actions to begin the long-term task of eradicating food poverty. You will be able to read the full plan on the Greater Manchester Poverty Alliance website.

There are now over 170 food banks and other social food providers across Greater Manchester. The plan aims to bring existing services together to work more closely. A more coordinated approach will help ensure that no one goes hungry. The time and effort that goes into running foodbanks from volunteers is inspiring. The commitment that these individuals give is making a difference to our communities but no city region like Greater Manchester should need to have over 170 food banks. We now live in a society where reports of food bank use have become the norm. But there’s nothing normal about living in a rich country where children need emergency food parcels, where people in work are struggling on low pay and cannot afford to feed themselves and where a balanced healthy diet is being priced out of reach of families.

The Action Plan also will also address how low incomes and high costs mean many people are struggling to put food on the table, and a healthy, balanced diet is even further from their reach. It is also time for politicians to look at the barriers and systems in place that bring about some of the causes of Food Poverty.

Food poverty is a scandal that reflects on all of us. Working together we can make a difference to Greater Manchester. Read the plan and find out the role that you can play in making the eradication of food poverty in Greater Manchester a reality.

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