Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Yet again, we have another debate tabled around poverty, a long-standing issue for this Senedd, and there are known and undeniable links between poverty and food insecurity. Given that almost a quarter of people in Wales are in poverty, it is no surprise that food insecurity is a prominent issue facing many households in Wales. There are, of course, positive actions on the horizon: free school meals for all primary school children, for example, something that, as a former recipient of free school meals, I'm immensely proud of. Knowing that, soon enough, every primary school pupil will be in receipt of free school meals and that my party and the Government came together, despite our differences, is very much something that truly moves me. And when it happens, it will no doubt be one of the proudest moments of my political career.

But I'm sure it won't surprise Members to learn that I think we still need to go further. Free school meals didn't end for me in primary school, but we have taken the first step in enshrining food and access to food as vital parts of the education experience, and that, of course, at its base level, is what we are trying to achieve with our motion. The right to food should be an inalienable right for all citizens, not just in Wales, but globally. We can't survive or thrive without it. That's why the right to food should be embedded in all policies relating to poverty.

Poverty is one of the clearest and largest factors contributing to food insecurity, and poverty has only been increasing in Wales following years of austerity, stilted economic growth following COVID-19 and Brexit, and increasing prices. We are seeing a crisis of food poverty born out of the political choices and systemic failings created over the past four decades that have brought us to a tipping point in so many of our communities. This, of course, when Wales finds itself part of the UK, one of the richest countries in the world.

In 2017 and 2018, nearly one in 10 people in Wales experienced low food security, and 14 per cent of people ran out of food before they could afford to buy more. The south Wales food poverty alliance found that households with incomes in the bottom 20 per cent in Wales would need to spend 36 per cent of their income to meet the UK Government's Eatwell guide. More people in Wales have to change their eating and buying habits for financial reasons than the UK average, and marginal food insecurity is also higher in Wales than in any other UK country. Our welfare system, our social protection system, is clearly failing to protect the most vulnerable in society by not providing enough for the necessity of food to those who need it. To truly tackle food poverty, there must be systemic change. Increasing welfare payments or support for food banks does not tackle the root cause of the issue or provide people with the dignity they're entitled to. 

If I could turn briefly to the Conservative amendments for one moment, simply getting more people into work will not solve the issue if this employment is not good or fair. More than a fifth of workers in Wales are earning less than the real living wage, and in some areas in south Wales this rises to a quarter or even a third. The majority of people living in poverty in Wales currently are in work, and one in six people referred to the Trussell Trust foodbanks in the UK were in work, which demonstrates that employment is not a guarantee out of poverty. The amendment also mentions the UK Government's Kickstart scheme for 16 to 24-year-olds who are on universal credit. It provides funding to employers to cover the national minimum wage for six months, but the national minimum wage for 18 to 20-year-olds is £6.56 an hour. How is this supposed to help a care leaver, for example, set themselves up on their own and not be worried about where their next meal will come from? It's nowhere near enough. 

On the topic of children and young people, I wanted to raise the issue of child poverty and the impact of food poverty on children. Households in Wales with children will experience more financial pressures from rising food costs and poverty than those without children. The Food Foundation estimated that there are roughly 160,000 children in Wales for whom a healthy diet is increasingly unaffordable. Three weeks ago, on 17 November, I raised the issue of Welsh child poverty in this Chamber, where I noted that, over the last financial year, 54,000 foodbank parcels went to children in Wales, compared to only 35,000 during 2017 and 2018. At that same rate, as of today, more than 3,000 food parcels would have gone to children in Wales since I made that statement. And this, of course, assuming the situation hasn't worsened, which many indicators suggest it will continue to do. 

Dirprwy Lywydd, I hope that my comments have been taken by the Conservative benches as constructive and not party political, and I say this because I think this is an issue that transcends party politics. Indeed, it is a cross-party issue. Everyone should have secure access to quality, nutritious food. I think that's something all of us can agree on, no matter our political persuasions. It's very much the philosophy of Baobab Bach in Bridgend, for example, it's the philosophy of Bridgend College, who provide free school breakfasts to their students, and it's the philosophy of other community organisations working on food poverty across Wales, many of whom we have all visited and previously mentioned in this very Chamber. 

In my closing remarks, I want to illustrate the importance of the Right to Food campaign and its cross-party nature, and pay tribute to the work already under way in Westminster by both Beth Winter MP and Ian Byrne MP, who I first met virtually at a People's Assembly panel on this very issue. Both have been working across parties to get this on the agenda in Westminster, gaining the support of Plaid MPs, SNP MPs, Labour MPs, Conservative MPs, Lib Dem MPs—and I'll stop at that point, because I think Members will get the picture there. I hope this, of course, can be replicated here in the Senedd. The fact is, we owe it to all of our constituents who live in food poverty every day of their lives to come together here and solve this issue. Diolch.