A number of years ago in 1989 the Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Labour colleagues created the Early Day Motions (EDM) which are intended to enable MPs who are not members of the Government to be able to proposed ideas for the Government to adopt for Parliament. One of the themes that have emerged in the past is proposals from MPs who are passionate of the work of FareShare and Trussell Trusts that are working for food to be provided for people in communities. It would be very helpful for us to communicate our MPs to consider picking up this theme for our current and indeed future Governments. There have been 13 EDM’s for FareShare which is significant although there are 23 EDM’s for Trussell Trust which includes on a few weeks ago. The most recent FareShare was in February 2021 so it would be great to persuade our MPs to submit an EDM for FareShare now!

The first FareShare EDM was called “FARESHARE FOR LEEDS” which was set out by a Liberal Democrat MP from Leeds in December 2009 and it was just before the Labour team stopped being the Government. There were 12 other MPs that endorsed it. Three years later in December 2012 another Liberal Democrat MP from Colchester created “TESCO, THE TRUSSELL TRUST AND FARESHARE” and 12 other MPs endorsed it including Peter Bottomley who is the Conservative MP for Worthing West. A few days later Karl Turner the MP for Kingston upon Hull East created an EDM entitled “ADDRESSING FOOD POVERTY WITH FOOD INDUSTRY SURPLUSES” and he achieved 24 more MPs which included Peter Bottomley and Caroline Lucas who is the Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion. The text was

That this House recognises the significant and deepening problem of food poverty in communities across the UK and notes the important role that hon. Members can play in championing the issue both within Parliament and within their own constituencies; further recognises the critical role that leading food charity FareShare plays by working with the food industry and community groups to address food poverty by making good use of surplus food fit for human consumption; calls on community leaders including local councillors to show leadership on the issue and work with FareShare, hon. Members, community groups and the food industry to alleviate levels of food poverty; and further calls on responsible food businesses to recognise the important role that they can play in alleviating food poverty by working with FareShare to utilise food surpluses.

Six months later in June 2013 Grahame Morris the Labour MP for Easington published “FARESHARE” and 46 more MPs endorsed it which included Peter Bottomley and also the Conservative MP for Hove, Mike Weatherley. The text was

That this House acknowledges the innovative partnership between FareShare, Asda and its suppliers to distribute 1,500 tonnes per year of surplus chilled and fresh food to charities and community organisations across the UK; commends Asda’s donation of £100,000 to grow FareShare’s capacity to receive this additional food which is a 41 per cent increase in the total amount of all food currently redistributed by FareShare in a year; recognises the excellent work of Asda and FareShare in both reducing food waste and tackling food poverty; and notes that this is the first national partnership of its kind on this scale and a model of best practice for the UK grocery retail sector, providing up to 3.6 million meals per year and saving the charity FareShare £4.5 million, freeing up much-needed money for investment in other essential services.

There have been another 8 FareShare EDMs from July 2013 through to July 2020 but none of them were as large as the one in June 2013. However in February 2021 there was a FareShare EDM which is entitled “Support to tackle food waste” that was created by Neil Parish, the Conservative MP for Tiverton and Honiton (Devon). He was agreed by 60 MPs from a wide range of settings and they included 22 Scotland, 8 Welsh, 8 London, 3 NI and a number of other areas including Peter Bottomley and also Lloyd Russell-Moyle who is the Labour MP for Brighton Kemptown so 2 from Sussex.

That this House recognises the valuable work of FareShare, the UK’s biggest charity fighting hunger and food waste, in providing two million meals per week to people in need during the covid-19 pandemic; acknowledges that it is deeply regrettable that two million tonnes of food goes to waste in the UK every year, as well as noting that food waste has a significant negative environmental impact, which can be mitigated by FareShare’s work with British farmers and the food industry to divert waste food to people’s plates through their Surplus With Purpose scheme; and encourages the Government to continue to support FareShare in that endeavour.

Also there was an amendment for that EDM created by Wera Hobhouse entitled “Support to tackle food waste” and six of other MPs endorsed her amendment so that means that there are a total of 68 MPs that have endorsed this document. They include another 2 Scotland and 1 NI people. The amendment text from Wera is this.

At end, add “; and furthermore, this House recognises the valuable work of other organisations in the surplus food redistribution sector and acknowledges the benefits of an agile and diverse network, which is able to receive surplus food in the UK in a collaborative manner, and to ensure that surplus food reaches more end beneficiaries until such time that food poverty levels are reduced.”