Hunger-striking mothers vow to continue their campaign against food insecurity
A group of mothers today ended their five-day hunger strike in protest against food insecurity but have vowed to continue fighting for justice.
The women began demonstrating outside Parliament on Mother’s Day to draw attention to the parents in the UK and abroad who are skipping meals to feed their children.
Mum-of-four Emma Hopkins, 55, told the Mirror: “[Fasting] is something that we're choosing to do but actually it is a chronic issue in this country and globally, children are dying from starvation. Malnutrition is completely avoidable. World hunger was on the decline, and since 2014 that has reversed.
“We are a very privileged country. My heart is broken. I’m getting more and more emotional, actually, because when you’re not eating, everything touches you more. As a mother, to think of a child not eating when malnutrition is completely avoidable…”
Mother-of-four Emma Hopkins, 55, said food insecurity was a political choice by the Government (Jonathan Buckmaster)The medical herbalist from Totnes said that she had felt tired and nauseous at points during the fast but was acutely aware of how going without food is an everyday reality for many.
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“I feel weak today, but I think about people who are having to continue and manage their daily life [without food], looking after kids and working.
She added that the group’s meeting with MPs on Tuesday had gone well but that their activism was just beginning.
“We’re building momentum. I'd really like to get the message out that our future is not set in stone and we could do something different. We need to make really dramatic choices and really dramatic changes in what we invest in. We’re investing in the wrong things. We need to invest in people”.
The women now plan to escalate their action by linking up with other campaign groups to organise a larger meeting with MPs in Parliament.
Mother-of-two Rahelly Cutting Ben-Meir spoke out against mass starvation in Gaza (Jonathan Buckmaster)Mother-of-two Rahelly Cutting Ben-Meir, 73, was born in Israel but now lives in Totnes.
She said: “I’m here in solidarity with all the parents who can’t feed their children. For me that means parents who can't feed their children in this country but also worldwide. I’m Israeli and I’m heartbroken about what happened on October 7, but what Israel is doing now in Gaza is beyond words. I can hardly comprehend it. The number of mothers, children and elderly people who are dying from hunger now is exceeding the number killed by the bombing.
“You can talk about these things from your head, but when you go on hunger strike, you experience the lack of energy. I actually have not been sleeping very well, because what happens when you are on hunger strike is it makes your nervous system active. I keep thinking about parents who are having to look after their children while not being able to eat.
“We’re only doing it for five days. There are parents who are doing it all the time. How? How are they doing it? It absolutely doesn’t have to be like this. The benefit system here is now completely inadequate already inadequate [Rishi] Sunak is apparently considering reducing it. How is that possible?
“My feeling is that empathy is thin on the ground. That’s what is missing from the whole conversation about hunger. It is worth our humanity, worth our empathy. How can we allow that to happen? There are the resources to stop this."
The women have published a Mother’s Manifesto calling for nutritious free meals to be provided in all state schools in addition to a Living Wage minimum for workers.
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But they are also urging a more systemic approach that acknowledges how the climate emergency more broadly is fuelling food insecurity around the world, with other demands including the introduction of a loophole-free windfall tax on fossil fuel companies' profits and the cancellation of debt owed by the poorest nations so that their climate adaptations can be properly financed.
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