Led by Dr Regina Murphy Keith, Course Leader for the Global Public Health Nutrition MSc course at the University of Westminster, a group of Westminster students have visited Belfast, Liverpool, Dublin and Cork to meet MPs and members of the community to hear from the voices of those actively fighting for the right for food. The four-city trek will feed into the World Public Health Nutrition Congress 2024 taking place at the University of Westminster.
The Quintin Hogg Trust funded event was part of the Community Conversations project run by the World Public Health Nutrition Association (WPHNA) and the University of Westminster. The initiative’s goal is to collect voices from across the globe to create a conversation around what needs to be done to support those suffering from food insecurity. Through the project people are given the chance to speak out about their experiences and offer their ideas on how to reduce hunger and move towards fulfilling the right to food, nutrition and health for all. These voices will be shared before the Congress starts to feed into potential solutions.
The four-city trek played a vital part in the project as it gave Westminster students the chance to speak to local communities about their personal experiences and hear from them about potential solutions. One example of this was in Liverpool where the students participated in local pantry activities which gave them first-hand understanding of food security challenges in the area.
They also met government officials such as Ian Byrne MP for West Derby in Liverpool, who sits on cross party APPG groups to promote the Right To Food in Parliament and campaigns for London and other cities to follow Belfast and Liverpool by becoming Right to Food Cities. The students learned that many communities felt that having free school meals and a living wage were important ways forward, as were having their voices included to feed into plans and solutions. Seeing the work that Ian Byrne and other community groups engage in gave students valuable insights into the challenges, successes and changes needed and the importance of active community engagement when considering how to improve food systems on a large scale.
Throughout the trip, the team also filmed multiple interviews with the hardworking communities and officials. These interviews will now be put together into a video that will be shared at the World Public Health Nutrition Congress in 2024.
The Congress will take place at the University of Westminster between 10-13 June. It will provide a forum to discuss local, national and global nutrition and health issues and explore new research on potential solutions to the hunger crisis. There will be a variety of people in attendance, including experts from the fields of nutrition, health, human rights, agriculture, trade, climate change and governance. There will also be community leaders, members from civil society organisations and NGOs, as well as government ministers, public sector bodies, academics and researchers.
The trip was funded by the Quintin Hogg Trust and has given students a chance to develop essential skills in working with communities and learn the power that principles such as partnership, equity, power and voice through an intersectoral lens can have in achieving change.
Reflecting on the trip Dr Murphy Keith said: “Students from all of the world, including Nigeria, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, were able to gain a unique view of the power that community action can have, through a shared vision, but also the reality of the growing challenges of food insecurity in the UK, where solutions did seem to be based on a post code lottery of good will rather than a coordinated national effort. This is in line with research I have carried out in London which highlighted the gap in public health nutrition services and support in England. All public health nutritionists should also spend time in the community and carry out community conversations to help link them more effectively with the populations they will work with to improve health and nutrition.”
The Community Conversations project and the upcoming Congress directly contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2: Zero Hunger, 3: Good Health and Wellbeing and 10: Reduced Inequalities. Since 2019, the University of Westminster has used the SDGs holistically to frame strategic decisions to help students and colleagues fulfil their potential and contribute to a more sustainable, equitable and healthier society.
Find out more about Nutrition and Public Health courses at the University of Westminster.
