Poitier, F

White Rose Research Online

This is a repository copy of UBI Lab Food - Panel Debate.White Rose Research Online URL for this paper:https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/195889/Version: Accepted VersionOther:Poitier, F orcid.org/0000-0003-2163-4750 (2022) UBI Lab Food - Panel Debate. UBI Lab Network. eprints@whiterose.ac.ukhttps://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/Reuse Items deposited in White Rose Research Online are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved unless indicated otherwise. They may be downloaded and/or printed for private study, or other acts as permitted by national copyright laws. The publisher or other rights holders may allow further reproduction and re-use of the full text version. This is indicated by the licence information on the White Rose Research Online record for the item. Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing eprints@whiterose.ac.uk including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. On the 12th of May 2022, the UBI Network launched UBI Food, its 41st Lab, with a virtualevent focused on “What role could a Universal Basic Income play in ensuring nutritious andsustainable diets for all?” Dan Crossley of the NGO Food Ethics Council, UK, hosted apanel of experts, including Professor Elaine Power, Dr Elizabeth Kimani-Murage and Dr SaraCloss-Davies. They led a rich discussion that contended with the relationship a basic incomehas with nutritious and sustainable diets. Three key questions were discussed: (a) how UBIcan address food insecurity?; (b) how does a UBI fit into the right to food? and; (c) how can aUBI be financed? Below is a summary of the event!Elaine, who has studied food insecurity for almost 30 years, opened the panel to discuss howa basic income can address food insecurity. She shared that Canada established its first foodbank in 1981 but has since increasingly relied on them to address food insecurity–particularly in the last 12 years. Elaine reflected on her research with individuals fromlow-income households who “try to make their dollar stretch” between paying for food, rent,utilities, transportation, clothing and other family living expenses. Food banks are often reliedon to supplement the cost of living as there is little money left after all other bills are paid (1).The use of food banks as a solution to address food insecurity, however, is problematic as itdoes not address individuals' and households’ income and budget concerns. Elaine shareddata from a 2017 basic income pilot (2), conducted in Ontario, Canada, which found thatparticipants could afford higher quality and healthier food with the additional income (3).Elizabeth then shared how a UBI fits into the right to food. She has worked on transformingfood systems in Kenya and Africa to be more human-centred, resilient and sustainable.Elizabeth highlighted that nearly two-thirds of Kenyans are either moderately or severelyfood insecure (4). Reflecting on her work, she mentioned that while food is available inmarketplaces in Nairobi, individuals in urban poor settings cannot afford it. These foods arethen wasted. Elizabeth explained that despite “adequate food of acceptable quality” being aconstitutional right in Kenya (5, [no page]), it has not yet been realised. Issues related to foodaffordability and the minimum wage are linked to the formal employment sector and threatenthis right. However, Kenya has a large informal sector (6) where this minimum wage does notapply. According to Elizabeth, a UBI not linked to employment status could provide access tohealthy and nutritious food in urban poor settings.Lastly, Sara focused on the costs of implementing a UBI. She researches the real-lifeimplications of tax and welfare policy on citizens, civil servants, society and social inequality.During the panel, she challenged the notion that people on benefits do not want to work or arelazy. She also disputed arguments that those who receive a universal basic income wouldwaste it on gambling, alcohol and smoking. Reflecting on her work, Sara explored how thisrationale is politically driven by an assumption that only those that pay income taxes shouldbenefit from state resources. She shared that not all recipients of state benefits can work, evenif they want to, and those not working still pay other taxes, such as VAT. Sara explained howeven those who are working still require support. For example, 52% of the UK populationreceives some kind of state benefit (7), with a significant proportion being those who arealready working. According to Sara, there are several options to finance a universal basicincome, such as increasing income tax rates, reducing tax reliefs for the rich, making UBItaxable, windfall taxes on certain industries, and hypothecated taxes or plastic and sugartaxes. There could also be a restructuring of the tax and bureaucratic system. Sara concludedthat there could be a targeted UBI for certain groups in the population. Still, there is a need toconsider how it would be administered and implemented to ensure it is effective and efficientin taking people out of poverty.The panel also fielded questions from attendees. The first question concerned whether theamount of UBI would continuously need to be adjusted as food prices rise. Elaine reflectedthat UBI could have an inflationary component and can be administered through the incometax system to meet this challenge. Sara also added that there should be a dynamic system inplace to react to market fluctuations (e.g. as the price of food increases/decreases, the amountof UBI would also increase/decrease). Elizabeth spoke about the need to change theperception of food from being a commodity to a human right. This would requiregovernments to take charge of food as a public good and not subject it to market forces,making food prices more affordable.Another question concerned the required level of a  UBI  to address food poverty and foodbank usage. Elaine shared that in Canada, advocates of UBI are currently focused on atargeted liveable income where people will not have to worry about putting food on the table.However, according to Elaine, this more targeted and smaller basic income has been critiquedfor subsidising low-wage employers.A third question was whether UBI could impact the price of food. According to Sara, thereare several factors to consider (e.g. energy and oil prices) when it comes to the cost of food,and UBI itself, therefore, may not directly impact the price of food. Elizabeth added thatsocial support systems would need to work together to address issues such as these.Lastly, there was a question about how UBI can contribute to more sustainable farming.Elaine reflected on the challenges farmers face, including labour and land issues. She sharedthat Canada’s National Farmers Union endorsed UBI as a stabilising force (8), especially asnew and younger farmers enter the industry.The panel concluded with perspectives on taking the UBI Food Lab further, with a robustagenda highlighting the critical role of UBI in ensuring nutritious, sustainable diets for all.The event can be seen in its entirety here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCQDmKLRP08The second event of the UBI Food Lab will be held on 21st November 2022 at 6:30 pm. Youcan register to attend here:https://actionnetwork.org/events/ubi-lab-food-online-event-universal-basic-income-and-the-cost-of-living-crisisUBI Lab Food is part of the UBI Lab Network and is facilitated by Opus social enterprisebased in Sheffield.1. Bergstein B. Basic income could work—if you do it Canada-style: MIT TechnologyReview; 2018 [Available from:https://www.technologyreview.com/2018/06/20/141704/basic-income-could-work-if-you-do-it-canada-style/.2. Queen’s Printer for Ontario. Ontario's Basic Income Pilot Ontario, Canada2017[Available from:https://news.ontario.ca/en/backgrounder/44495/ontarios-basic-income-pilot.3. Hamilton L, Mulvale JP. “Human Again”: The (Unrealized) Promise of Basic Income inOntario. Journal of Poverty. 2019;23(7):576-99.4. FAO. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021. Transforming foodsystems for food security, improved nutrition and affordable healthy diets for all. . Rome:Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); 2021.5. FAO. The Republic of Kenya recognizes the right to food in the new Constitution:Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States; 2010 [Available from:https://www.fao.org/right-to-food/news/news-detail/es/c/45489/.6. Federation of Kenyan Employers. The Informal Economy in Kenya. 2021.7. UK Department of Work & Pensions. Family Resources Survey: financial year 2020 to2021 United Kingdom2022 [Available from:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-resources-survey-financial-year-2020-to-2021/family-resources-survey-financial-year-2020-to-2021.8. MacInnis R, Beach H. Flexible Support— Consistent Income Needed for Farmers toContinue Their Essential Work 2022 [Available from:https://www.nfu.ca/flexible-support-consistent-income-needed-for-farmers-to-continue-their-essential-work/.

UBI Lab Food - Panel Debate

https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/195889/1/UBI%20Blog%20-%20Summary%20of%20Food%20Lab%20Event.docx.pdf

UBI Lab Food - Panel Debate

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

White Rose Research Online