Parents call for gov to prioritise food our children can count on

The Rt Hon Dame Angela Eagle MP Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Food is costing more and getting harder to grow as our climate changes. Our kids deserve a food system they can count on. Add your name and tell the government to make food security a priority.

Putting food on the table is getting harder. The weekly shop costs more than it used to. Floods, droughts and heatwaves are hitting UK farms and harvests, and the same extreme weather is hitting the countries we import much of our food from. Because we rely so heavily on imports, those shocks end up in our kitchens and in our children’s lunchboxes.

Food and climate are the same story. The way we farm and produce food is a big driver of climate change, and climate change is now threatening the food we grow. A secure food system protects our children's health, our family budgets and the world they'll grow up in.

The government has the power to change this. So parents and carers across the UK are coming together to ask for one thing: food our children can count on.

Parents are asking the Environment Secretary, Dame Angela Eagle MP, to commit to:

🟢  Making food security for our children a national priority. Deliver a proper, joined-up food strategy that supports the Good Food Bill and protects families from shortages, price shocks and climate impacts.

🟢  Backing the farmers who feed our families. Support UK farmers to grow more healthy, climate-resilient food for families, with more plants on our plates, carbon in our soils, and nature on our farms. Ensure we do not increase our reliance on factory farming, and that water supplies for our farmers are protected before approving major new water users, like large data centres.

🟢 Providing healthy food for children at school which is bought locally and in line with the Eatwell Guide. Improve guidelines, support, and monitoring to ensure our children have healthy food available in schools.

🟢  Keeping our promises on climate. Meet our legally binding climate targets, cut emissions faster, and honour our commitments to help other countries adapt, so families here and around the world can put food on the table.

🟢  Listening to parents about what food security means for our families. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Angela Eagle, should meet with parents and carers to offer assurances and share how UK families can support the Government to deliver on these commitments.

To: The Rt Hon Dame Angela Eagle MP Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
From: [Your Name]

Dear Secretary of State,

I am writing on behalf of Parents for Future UK, the largest parent climate movement in the UK, and the [number] parents who have added their names to this request, with the support of [partner organisations].

Every day, it’s getting harder for parents and carers to put food on the table. The weekly shop costs more, and floods, droughts and heatwaves are hitting harvests here and in the countries we import much of our food from. Those shocks end up in our children’s lunchboxes.

On 5 October, more than 150 experts, food organisations and community groups handed in an open letter to 10 Downing Street warning that the UK has no plan to feed people in a crisis. Resilience cannot rest on household cupboards, especially for families who cannot afford to stockpile. Food and climate are the same story. Farming is a major driver of climate change, and climate change now threatens the food we grow.

We welcomed England’s first Land Use Framework and its commitment to food security alongside nature recovery. Parents across the UK are now asking the government to go further:

1. Making food security for our children a national priority. Deliver a proper, joined-up food strategy that supports the Good Food Bill and protects families from shortages, price shocks and climate impacts.

2. Backing the farmers who feed our families. Support UK farmers to grow more healthy, climate-resilient food for families, with more plants on our plates, carbon in our soils, and nature on our farms. Ensure we do not increase our reliance on factory farming, and that water supplies for our farmers are protected before approving major new water users, like large data centres.

3. Providing healthy food for children at school which is bought locally and in line with the Eatwell Guide. Improve guidelines, support, and monitoring to ensure our children have healthy food available in schools.

4. Keeping our promises on climate. ​Meet our legally binding climate targets, cut emissions faster, and honour our commitments to help other countries adapt, so families here and around the world can put food on the table.

5. Listening to parents about what food security means for our families. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Angela Eagle, should meet with parents and carers to offer assurances and share how UK families can support the Government to deliver on these commitments.

We would welcome 30 minutes with you for a small delegation from Parents for Future UK to discuss how the government will act on these asks, and to hear your assurances on how our children will be protected from rising food insecurity.

Parents want to be part of the solution, and we would value the chance to share their perspective with you directly. Please contact us at Charlotte@parentsforfuture.org.uk to arrange a time.

Yours sincerely,

Parents for Future UK

Co-signed by: [partner organisations]
cc: [signers' MPs]