Press Release
MEDIA ADVISORY: MARCH 15TH, 2023
London, UK: A group of mothers are set to begin a six day hunger strike outside 10 Downing Street on Mothers’ Day in order to demand decisive, coordinated action from the UK government on food poverty and the climate crisis.
The mothers plan to hunger strike for six days in unity and solidarity with the one in four mothers in the UK who are skipping meals to feed their children and other mothers globally whose children are suffering severe hunger and malnutrition as a result of the climate crisis.
Christiana Figueres, former executive secretary of the UNFCCC and co-host of the climate podcast Outrage + Optimism said: “No child should be hungry, no child need be hungry if we only assume our urgent responsibility on inequality. Climate change is accelerating this crisis and we need to address it now. These brave women striking in solidarity with mothers should be listened to in the U.K. and around the world”
Linking the high price of fossil-fuel-based energy with food insecurity, as well as the impacts of the climate crisis on our food systems, the striking mothers have recognised the need for a systemic approach to change. They are calling on the UK government to play a transformative role in bringing about a world in which all children can thrive by taking coordinated action across a number of interconnected issues.
The mothers detail their demands in a Mothers’ Manifesto for Change, which outlines in stark terms the state of food insecurity in the United Kingdom and around the world. Their calls to action include making sure all children in the UK have enough to eat; that the UK government keeps its promises on foreign aid and climate, and for a windfall tax on oil and gas companies’ excessive profits.
Erica Curren, one of the striking mothers said: “The stark contrast between those ‘with’ and those ‘without’ is greater in this country than I have ever known it in my 65 years.I was a young mum at 18, poor but able to feed us. As a community worker supporting families in some of the most disadvantaged areas of Plymouth in the 80's I don't remember this kind of food poverty. It really shocks me that we have come to this”.
Jo Hook, Co-Founder and managing director of NGO Tenwa, also joining the strike, said: “When I read the Mothers Manifesto requests to the British Government I felt compelled to support these brave women. In my work in Malawi I have seen first hand the effect of the climate crisis and how cuts to the International Aid budget have led to a reduction in the support we can offer, resulting in many families having less food. The British government is currently failing to take adequate action to tackle the climate emergency. This has to change”.
Dr Grace Thompson, one of the striking mothers said: “I am hunger striking from Mothers Day in solidarity with all the patients and families I have worked with directly and who cannot feed their children. I see families in the UK affected by food poverty on a daily basis. How can our children thrive and be well when they are hungry? I am here to say "this is not OK, we are not OK". It is a political choice to protect companies' profits over meeting the basic needs of our people. It is a political choice to protect fossil fuel companies' profits over having a habitable planet and food security in every country for every child. The future looks worryingly uncertain for all children of the world, including my own. I am a Mother standing up to say this is wrong and it doesn't need to be this way”.
The mothers are urging other mothers who have their health and feel able to take part in a peaceful protest to support them by joining the hunger strike for all or part of the six days. Poet Benjamin Zephaniah has offered his words of support too. He said he was dedicating his ‘I Luv Me Mudder’ poem to the mothers going on hunger strike this Mother’s Day in support of the Mother’s Manifesto “because I know women really struggling to raise their families because they are getting a raw financial deal from this government. These women cannot take any more. This is why I’m supporting and I urge you to support this too’.
For more information on the action or to request an interview with any of the mothers, please contact: Emma Hopkins: emzlhopkins@gmail.com T: +44 7875 292434
You can also follow the strike on Instagram or Facebook.
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
Some of the mothers confirmed to begin the six day strike outside 10 Downing Street on Mothers Day include Emma Hopkins, Jo Hook, Erica Curren, Dr. Grace Thompson, Dr Karen Gilmore and Chantelle Norton.
Additional quotes from the striking mothers:
Jo Hook: “When I read the Mothers Manifesto requests to the British Government I felt compelled to support these brave women. As the Managing Director and co-Founder of British NGO, Temwa, I have witnessed the devastating effects of the climate crisis on families living in the community we serve in Northern Malawi. Periods of droughts or floods severely affect crop yields. In a survey undertaken by Temwa in 2022 farmers reported their yields were between 25% to 75% less than in previous years. The farmers attribute this drop in food production to the changing weather patterns.
In 2020 Temwa lost a vital grant to due the British Government FCDO aid budget cuts. This loss in funding has meant that Temwa has had reduced capacity to support communities in tackling deforestation. We’ve also had to reduce the number of families we can support through our sustainable agriculture projects. The aid cuts have therefore meant that over the last two years, deforestation will have increased and families now have less food. Meanwhile, the British government's Net Zero Strategy has been found to be illegal in a court of law, because it fails to comply with the government’s own Climate Change Act. The British government is currently failing to take adequate action to tackle the climate emergency. This has to change”.
Erica Curren: “I have always felt furious at the global inequalities which result in a few having so much while far too many mothers in this world hold their starving children. We seem to have learned nothing over the years. And now that stark contrast between those ‘with’ and those ‘without’ is greater in this country than I have ever known it in my 65 years. I was a young mum at 18, poor but able to feed us. As a community worker supporting families in some of the most disadvantaged areas of Plymouth in the 80's I don't remember this kind of food poverty. It really shocks me that we have come to this”.
Chantelle Norton: “I work in a food bank and community food initiative. People go hungry themselves in order to feed their children. Two clients told me recently that they hadn’t eaten for four days. It breaks my heart. We are, after all, the sixth richest country in the world.
We can and must do better. So I will be joining the Mothers’ Hunger Strike because it is vital that our government makes sure that every child in the UK has access to sufficient and nutritious food, and because committing to tackling climate change is also fundamental to our food security. I will be using my privilege to choose to not eat in support of those who do not have a choice.”
Emma Hopkins, organiser and catalyst of the hunger strike and Mothers Manifesto campaign: “We are taking this action because we can and must do things differently. There are enough resources and food for everyone according to the United Nations. So why are children starving to death? Why in the UK one of the richest nations are mothers skipping meals to feed their children? This is a political choice.
To not be able to feed your child or to lose your child as a mother is totally devastating and we stand in solidarity with everyone in this situation. Our symbolic action is a call to our Government to take the political action needed to do all they can to end food poverty. We call for a ‘levelling up’ and a true windfall tax on oil and gas companies and their billions in profit, and for it to be reinvested in a more equitable and sustainable future rather than being returned in subsidies, which continue to drive what is causing the escalating climate crisis.”
Dr Karen Gilmore: “According to a report from the Food Foundation in January 2023, 3.7 million children in the UK experienced food insecurity. This is a political choice and utterly shameful”.
