Our plan to tackle food insecurity
by In a country as prosperous as Scotland, everyone should have access to affordable, nutritious food. But after eight years of Tory welfare cuts, more and more people are relying on emergency food support. This is unacceptable.
In government, we’re taking action to mitigate Tory cuts; to tackle poverty and inequality; and to improve access to food. Here’s what you need to know.
A right to food
As part of our plan for a Good Food Nation Bill, the Scottish Government is exploring whether the right to food could be enshrined in Scotland’s law.
Funding to tackle holiday hunger
We’re investing in projects that ensure children have access to healthy and nutritious meals during the school holidays.
Protecting and expanding free school meals
All children in primaries 1 to 3 – around 135,000 pupils – are now benefiting from free school meals, saving families around £380 per child per year. And by 2021 we will provide free meals to all 2, 3 and 4 year olds who benefit from increased nursery provision.
Helping people move away from emergency food support
The £1 million a year Fair Food Fund is supporting projects that help people move away from emergency food support and get access to healthy, nutritious food.
Tackling poverty and inequality
To tackle child poverty, we have set tough new statutory targets, published a plan to meet them and backed this up with a new £50 million fund.
A new Best Start Grant will be introduced from summer 2019 to increase support for parents on low incomes at key stages in a child’s life. We also intend to introduce a new Income Supplement to provide financial support to the families that need it most by 2022.
And the Scottish Government is spending over £115 million this year mitigating Tory welfare cuts.
A Diet and Healthy Weight plan to support healthier choices
We have published a new plan to help people achieve a healthy weight, through measures to encourage healthier choices and better access to support for children and families.