Affording to Eat Well in Scotland

After two years of pressure on household budgets during the pandemic, the cost of living crisis has brought even more attention to the challenges many people are facing to afford even the basics. If the Scottish Government is going to meet its vision of ending the need for food banks, and eradicating poverty by 2030, work is needed urgently to improve the prevention of and response to food insecurity today.

But what would people in Scotland choose to eat if income from wages and benefits were sufficient? What are we really aiming for? What are our shared aspirations for eating well in a Good Food Nation?

The Our Right to Food project has been working with groups of community advisors across Scotland to understand what people believe should be included in a weekly shopping list if a family was aiming for a balance of foods that that meet the following criteria:

• Healthy 'enough’

• Most people would enjoy

• Good fit for people’s lives

Join this interactive event to learn more about what people believe all families in Scotland should be able to afford, and what being able to afford these foods means to promoting a sense of dignity, choice, pride and pleasure.

In this Learning Event you will:

• Hear from the Nourish team about the work we’ve been doing with community advisors to understand what a healthy enough, culturally valued diet is in Scotland today.

• Take part in small group activities to explore and discuss the results of the Our Right to Food project and how these tools might be used in your work locally.

• Consider & discuss with others how our current responses to food insecurity can build on this learning to promote the right to food.

Following this event we invite you to join the last one in the series: "Progressing the Right to Food in Scotland" 17th March 11.00-13.00 to reflect on current local and national level strategies to reach our shared vision and what else might be needed to get there. Sign up here

Dignity in Practice Learning Event Series

Ensuring that everyone in Scotland has reliable access to affordable and nutritious food is a core part of realising the right to food and promoting dignity. Making this a reality requires collaboration across public, private and third sector stakeholders as well as coordination of national, local and community-level action. This event series explores practical examples of how rights-based and dignified approaches are already underway in Scotland and elsewhere, and what more can be learned about our next steps.