THIS week in Parliament will see a day of celebration and action by the Sustainable Food Places Network.

More than 100 food partnerships nationwide will be heading to Westminster to highlight and celebrate the vital work that food partnerships do to provide locally powered solutions to our widening health inequalities, the rising cost of living and the climate crisis.

Ahead of this, I visited our own food partnership, the East Lothian Friendly Food Network at the Pennypit Trust, to hear all about the work they are doing locally.

The East Lothian Friendly Food Network works across the county and they believe that everyone in East Lothian should have access to healthy, affordable and nutritious food. It was great to meet the team – Ruth, Michaela and Jonathan – who work so hard to tackle food poverty and ensure everyone can access good food. Their work includes a pantry that anyone can access, as well as cooking classes. I saw first-hand how essential their work is and it was brilliant to meet some of the kids dropping in after school for the activities on offer.

The cost-of-living crisis is currently affecting many families in our community and household budgets are even more stretched over the winter months. The team at the Pennypit ensure that families and other adults in need can access free food and other winter essentials.

I am delighted to welcome the East Lothian Friendly Food Network to Parliament as they come together with their colleagues across the UK to celebrate their collective achievements.

They are also demanding action from MPs across the UK. I am happy to support their call to action and will be encouraging my Labour colleagues to champion the cause of food partnership in their constituency, to visit a local project and to keep consulting these projects as the local experts on the challenges we face as a nation around food sustainability.