Proposed by Cllr tidball

Labour member motion

When Oxford was hit by Coronavirus in March 2020, doing nothing was not an option.

Council recognises the commitment made to ensuring nobody in Oxford went hungry. Knowing that the pandemic would exacerbate inequalities, this Council established five Locality Response Hubs, a food depot at Rose Hill Community Centre, and, with partners the Oxford Hub, Oxford Together.

Council further recognises that:

·       Between March and August 2020, over 11,000 emergency food parcels were given to communities by the Council, and working with communities and Oxford Brookes University, these food parcels were nutritious and culturally appropriate.

·       Relationships with SOFEA and a network of charities and community partners, such as Oxford Mutual Aid, Oxford Community Action, Good Food Oxford, the Oxford Mosques and Syrcox, have been strengthened to support the food system in the city.

·       Food pipelines have been secured and Community Larders and access to low-cost food increased for those who needed it. £145k of grant funding has been secured to support organisations to sustain this system when the Council transitioned from food parcel delivery. Care was taken to ensure contact teams called all those in  receipt of a food parcel and worked with them to access food vouchers and the network of food banks and larders where needed.

·       When the Government refused to provide Free School Meals during October half-term, this Council committed to providing Free School Meal vouchers and continued to work with partners to help people access food through the Winter Support Grants.

More can be done. Supermarkets have significant food waste. Tackling food poverty and reducing waste to deliver a net Zero Carbon City go hand in hand.

This Council backs concerted and coordinated action to address food poverty and resolves to continue to work with partners, as we have throughout the pandemic, to develop a county-wide strategy that addresses the causes of food poverty as part of our wider anti-poverty work.  This should include the following:

·       The Council producing recommendations on what is needed for a self-sustaining community food system and its role in supporting this, based on its strengths and experiences over the last year.

·       Bringing together the views and knowledge of our food network partners to better understand the current root causes of food poverty, with a view to developing and implementing meaningful solutions through a shared action plan.

·       Tackling child food poverty by campaigning to address holiday hunger, increase the take up of free school meals, and access to food larders for families with children.

·       Continuing to use relationships with supermarkets to divert surplus food to those that need it and minimise waste to help eliminate Oxford’s contribution to climate change by 2040 or sooner, in line with the Zero Carbon Oxford Charter and recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change.

This motion was not taken as the time allocated for debate had finished.