Children were aware that issues around food insecurity affected all children and had lots of ideas for practical ways of including children in dialogue around food insecurity, including by listening carefully and building respectful relationships.
“Some new rules so people won’t just be that way, poor and homeless, and so we don’t just ignore them.”
“What my Mum does is that she buys all the stuff a few days before, she has to remember what we’ll have for dinner, so she’ll buy all the stuff and has it in the fridge and just makes it.
“Teachers have to make sure you’re healthy, let’s say the supervisor is outside and you’re having popcorn, a chocolate bar and some Maltesers, then they would say maybe you should keep some of that for after school”
“Some people don’t have enough money to buy food and some people have to go to food banks and some people can’t go to the food bank because their families are too ill.”
“They might have to go a long way… they may be in the Highlands.”
“If you’re eating junk food every day it can make you ill and give you ulcers, and there’s no room for healthy stuff.”
“It’s called tomato soup, so it must have tomatoes in it, so it must be healthy.”
This briefing paper examines the complexities of involving children and young people in decision-making related to programmes that aim to reduce holiday hunger in Scotland.
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