Following a Labour motion put to Suffolk County Council calling for action on food poverty, the County Council has agreed to appoint a Food Poverty Officer.

This is the first step in Suffolk County Council’s food justice action plan which will seek to address the spiralling crisis of increasing numbers of families needing to rely on foodbanks. The Food Poverty Officer will lead the development of the plan and the measures which emerge from it, with the aim of cracking down on food poverty issues in Suffolk’s communities.

Councillor Jack Abbott, opposition Labour group spokesman at the county council who put forward the motion, described the levels of food poverty in Suffolk as “devastating”:

“The problem [is] only set to get worse as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to force people into hardship through no fault of their own. It is why I proposed the motion and why Suffolk County Council must work quickly and decisively to produce a food justice plan to tackle poverty in our county.”

More than 50,000 children in Suffolk are currently living in conditions of poverty, with 17,600 eligible for free school meals.