LAST week it was announced that foodbank charity, the Trussell Trust, had developed a partnership with takeaway food delivery and notorious “gig” economy company Deliveroo, which will see their customers offered the option to donate to the Trussell Trust when they make a food order. 

On the face of it a private business encouraging charitable giving to help those in need appears to be a good thing, but we at the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers’ Union (BFAWU) have fundamental concerns about this partnership.  

As a society, we cannot address the issue of food insecurity and hunger without addressing the wider structural inequalities in our economy and society. 

The gap between the rich and poor is growing at an alarming rate and the situation is getting worse. Across the country, increasing numbers of families cannot afford the basic necessities of life. Many are finding themselves resorting to emergency food provision for the first time. 

During the Covid pandemic, my union carried out a survey of our members. It found that one in five relied on food from and a friend or relative to feed themselves and their families, 40 per cent said they had not eaten enough due to a lack of money and 20 per cent lived in a household that had run out of food, with one-third eating less than they should to ensure others had enough to eat and 7.5 per cent were reliant on foodbanks. 

This is a disgraceful situation that is driven by low pay, job insecurity and a government that doesn’t give a toss. As the general secretary of the BFAWU, my priority is to drive up the pay, conditions and the job security of our members. This is the fundamental reason we exist. 

Prior to the Covid pandemic, the situation was at crisis point but soaring inflation, rising food and fuel costs and low pay, combined with cuts to universal credit are driving more and more people into poverty — this is a very real and genuine national crisis. 

Companies like Deliveroo are the embodiment of how “gig economy” workers are exploited. Drivers have no set hours or regular salary, are paid per delivery, don’t get sick pay, pensions or other employment rights. 

Deliveroo is not alone; we could add hundreds of other household names to the list of those who are just as bad. Deliveroo like Uber and Amazon are hugely profitable companies that are hostile to trade unions, opposed to collective bargaining and have a threatening approach to employees trying to organise to advance their rights. 

Deliveroo and their ilk are part of the problem — not part of the solution. Yet it appears the Trussell Trust is willing to give sucker to this exploitative organisation. 

Instead of challenging the status quo and unfettered free-market capitalism that by its very design creates inequality, poverty and hunger, the Trussell Trust appears to be content to continue with a charitable model of food provision assisted by the likes of Deliveroo. 

Its business model is based on expanding the foodbank network, rather than realising the ambition to see them eradicated because no-one needs to rely on them any more.

For Deliveroo, this partnership is a real bonus for its business. It creates a very favourable impression of a business that is caring, progressive and compassionate. 

The company will milk this for every bit of publicity it can but on two fronts this is a charade because it gives the impression that Deliveroo is being philanthropic when in fact this scheme will cost them nothing as it is their customers who are raising the funds via donations. 

It is an approach that will also do absolutely nothing for Deliveroo drivers. It will not change their employment status, increase their pay, provide a pension or sick pay or improve their terms and conditions. It will leave them hungry, poor and still with an uncertain future. 

The time for organisations working with people experiencing hunger to speak out and demand real, genuine, lasting change is now. 

We cannot allow corporations and charities to become complicit in sustaining a system where hunger increases. 

We must make a united call for an end to the gross inequality we see in our society, an end to people having their dignity and self-respect robbed through no fault of their own, an end to low pay, exploitation and the normalisation of foodbanks. 

We want to see all our citizens secure the right to food as a human right and those in power charged with delivering food security and dignity, ending stigma. 

As a society, we need to be working towards providing good food for people based on social solidarity and mutual support instead of via foodbank queues. 

In Scotland, the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish government are currently promoting new food legislation, but the Good Food Nation Bill does nothing to tackle food insecurity. 

How can Scotland possibly be a “Good Food Nation” when so many are going hungry? Instead, we should be supporting the Bill from Rhoda Grant MSP which proposes creating a “right to food,” putting it on a statutory footing with the government held to account for delivery. This must be repeated in the Westminster Parliament. 

The BFAWU will continue to work with the politicians and organisations committed to ending hunger, but we need a holistic approach that uses every available lever of political power to drive up the income of the poorest.  

I hope that the Labour and trade union movement makes this a key campaigning priority over the coming weeks and months — it is our duty. 

Sarah Woolley is the general secretary of the Bakers Food and Allied Workers’ Union.