Food Poverty in the Food Industry

That the Parliament notes the publication of research by the Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU), which, it believes, has exposed the extent to which food workers are struggling to afford basic necessities such as food; understands that this research illustrates what it sees as a hunger crisis in Scotland's food industry; notes that, compared with previous research from BFAWU in 2021, of the UK food workers who responded to the survey, the number who rely on food banks has increased from 7% to 17%; further notes that the number of respondents eating less has risen from 35% to 57% due to the cost of living crisis; stands in solidarity with food workers experiencing cost of living pressures; understands that workers and families across Scotland are facing unaffordable rises in the prices of food; supports the work of the Scottish Government to reduce food poverty through the provision of universal free school meals in primary schools; calls on the Scottish Government to complete the roll-out of universal free school meals in primary schools and to establish a pilot scheme in secondary schools, and further calls for the right to food to be enshrined in Scots law.