‘The Enough Food for Everyone IF’ campaign – the largest coalition of its kind since Make Poverty History in 2005 – is aimed at tackling the causes of global hunger, which the campaign estimates will trap almost a billion people in poverty by 2025.
The world produces enough food for everyone, yet not everyone has enough food to live.
The Wrexham launch took place in Wrexham at 12.45pm on Friday, January 25 outside St Mary’s Cathedral in Regent Street. The Catholic Bishop of Wrexham, the Right Reverend Peter Brignall and Ian Lucas MP addressed a crowd of more than 30 activists, including Deputy Mayor of Wrexham Cllr David Bithell, Dr Ikram Shah from Wrexham Islamic Cultural Centre, representatives from Fairtrade, CAFOD and Christian Aid, Yale College, Glyndwr Uni, and Wrexham’s Christian communities.
Ian Lucas, who is also Shadow Minister for Africa and the Middle East, welcomed the campaign. He said: “One in eight people on our planet are hungry and two million children die each year because of malnutrition. It is vital that the Enough Food IF campaign keeps pressure on world leaders to tackle hunger this year – especially with Britain holding the presidency of the G8.”
Bishop Brignall said: “It is right that we support a campaign to get the governments of the world and multi-national companies to take action to alleviate hunger and malnutrition. But in justice we must play our part too in seeking to resolve this most complex of problems. Recent surveys suggest that up to half of the food produced is wasted. We have a responsibility to ensure we, individually, are not part of the root cause of the hunger of others. What we waste could be the difference between life and death of not one person but a whole family in the poorest countries of the world. Support of this campaign is an important element of the whole action to work for clean water, good sanitation, land, skills and tools for the world’s poorest to help them feed themselves. I support it and encourage you to do so too.”
The IF campaign was launched across the UK on Wednesday, January 23 and numbers 109 organisations and rising. It estimates that as well as the 937 million children and young people (aged 15-40) whose life chances will be damaged by hunger, malnutrition will cost an annual £78 billion in lost output.
The campaign calls on Prime Minister David Cameron to use the UK’s G8 presidency this year to take action on the root causes of hunger in the poorest countries by tackling 4 big IFs to ensure there is enough food for everyone:
- IF we stop poor farmers being forced off their lane, and use the available agricultural land to grow food for people, not bio-fuels for cars.
- IF Governments keep their priorities on aid, invest to stop children dying from malnutrition and help the poorest people feed themselves through investment in small farmers
- IF Governments close loopholes to stop big companies dodging tax in poor countries, so that millions of people can free themselves from hunger
- IF we force Governments and investors to be open and honest about the deals they make in the poorest countries that stop people getting enough food.