Sixth form students tell MPs they're hungry for change

Thirty sixth-form students from Catholic colleges and schools across England and Wales travelled to London on Wednesday 6 February to give local MPs food for thought on the issue of world hunger and to hand over more than 8,000 demands for action to Tom Clarke MP and Sir Tony Cunningham MP.

The students toured the Houses of Parliament, watched Prime Minister’s Questions and took part in a discussion with 19 MPs from all three main parties about why hunger still exists in the modern world.  

In November 2012, we launched our Hungry for change campaign which calls for major changes in the global food system, including better support for small-scale farmers in the poorest countries and checks on the power of global food companies.

Since then, more than 8,000 people have signed action cards calling on Prime Minister David Cameron to use the UK's presidency of the G8 this year to put food and hunger at the top of the global agenda. The campaign will continue until October 2013 - so this hand in of action cards will be the first of many to put pressure on the government throughout the year.

Take action now. Email David Cameron to call for a fairer food system >

'A landmark day'

Rumaisa Patel, 17 from Cardinal Newman college in Preston, met her MP Mark Hendricks during the event. She said: “It is surreal to be in parliament after having seen this place so often on TV. I was really nervous before we met our MP and didn’t know what to say, but he initiated the conversation and was very supportive of the campaign. Today has been a landmark day for me as I don’t know when I’d get the chance to come to Parliament again. Today is going to stick with me for a long time.”

Dom Goggins, CAFOD’s head of government relations said:

“Everybody knows that young people are the first to speak up when something's not fair, and that's why so many of them are motivated by this issue. In a world when there's enough food for everyone, it makes no sense that one in eight people go hungry every day. This is an opportunity for the students to act and stand together in solidarity with young people living with hunger overseas.”

“It’s really exciting to see that so many young people are interested in politics and understand the difference that Parliament can make not only to their own lives but to those less fortunate than themselves. They can truly be the next great generation.”

Young people have political influence

Kerry McCarthy MP, was one of the MPs who met with the students. She said: “Many young people don’t realise that they can approach or email MPs and that they do have political influence. This afternoon we’ve talked about defence policy, the environment and feeding the world. Some people say that only local issues matter, but it’s good to hear that people care about global poverty too.”

Sir Tony Cunningham MP welcomed the group to parliament. He said: “As an MP, I’m often asked to justify why we give aid to places like Africa and Latin America. There are a variety of reasons, to do with Britain’s interests. While I accept some of these, most importantly for me is that we give aid because it is the right thing to do. Thank you for all you are doing in support of CAFOD and international development.”

Before visiting parliament, the 30 young people spent a day at CAFOD’s London headquarters to prepare them for their visit. They took part in workshops to learn about Hungry for change and how campaigning can make a difference to the decisions taken in Parliament.

An estimated 870 million people worldwide go without enough food to be healthy and live an active life, and the overwhelming majority of them live in developing countries. In Sub-Saharan Africa, one in four people go hungry. The recent financial crisis has pushed even more people around the world to the brink of starvation.