Westminster’s Community Conversations project has launched a film on feeding families in 2024 to showcase voices involved in the fight against food insecurity, created by Global Public Health Nutrition (GPHN) MSc student Alexandra Sutton. The launch event featured a screening of the film and a series of insightful talks promoting the right to food and nutrition from Westminster colleagues, activists, councillors and MPs.
The Community Conversations film was created using voices gathered by colleagues and students during a five-city trek across the UK and Ireland to feed into the World Public Health Nutrition (WPHN) Congress hosted at the University in June 2024.
The film is an extended version of Alexandra’s original film produced as Director of Communications for the WPHN Congress to highlight lived experiences of communities struggling to feed their families in 2024. The updated documentary features new footage from the Congress, including voices from some of the over 600 delegates from 66 countries who attended the four-day event.
Led by Dr Regina Murphy Keith, Course Leader for the GPHN MSc, who opened the evening with a powerful song, the Community Conversations project is run with the World Public Health Nutrition Association (WPHNA) to collect voices from across the globe to create a conversation on how to support those struggling to access nutritious with meals.
The film began with interviews collected by congress participants and GPHN MSc students who were funded by Westminster Global Experience Bursaries to visit families facing food insecurity all over the world. It went on to follow GPHN MSc students on their 2024 Quintin Hogg Trust-funded UK and Ireland tour, where they met MPs, councillors and community members fighting for the right to food and nutrition, who featured in interviews throughout the film.
Producer Alexandra Sutton said: “Whilst on the tour around the UK and Ireland interviewing people on their experience in food insecurity, what we saw is that where the government aren’t stepping up, communities are. People don’t always necessarily want freebies; they want opportunities to work and dignity when it comes to asking for help.”
About the relaunched documentary she added: “We wanted to share more footage as the original film didn’t include as much as we wanted. We also wanted to show the touching impact the film had at the Congress and the Community Conversations activities it inspired.”
Producer Alexandra Sutton
Westminster’s Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Peter Bonfield spoke at the screening and shared his pride in the work of the GPHN community at Westminster. This was followed by a talk from Dr Sharon Noonan-Gunning, Co-Course Leader for GPHN MSc, about her experience leading the Right to Food campaign in London.
Dr Noonan-Gunning then introduced Rose Dakuo, Founder of the community kitchen and youth club Homegrown in Tottenham, who shared her inspirational experience fighting for the right to food in her local area. This was followed by a speech from Councillor Kemi Akinola, Deputy Leader of Wandsworth Council and CEO of charity Be Enriched, who shared her mission to tackle food poverty in South London.
About the film Councillor Akinola said: “The film was a powerful reminder that food insecurity is an urgent global issue and one that affects people in our own communities every day. At Be Enriched, we see first-hand how access to good food can transform lives and it’s inspiring to see Westminster students using their platform to shine a light on these challenges. Raising awareness is the first step towards action, and I hope this film encourages more people to join the fight against food injustice both in their local communities and beyond. Support organisations like Be Enriched by donating your time or money to our amazing community canteens."
The audience then heard from Ian Byrne, MP for Liverpool West Derby, who spoke about his pioneering work promoting the Right to Food campaign in the UK and Europe.
About the Westminster students’ visit to Liverpool, the UK’s first Right to Food city, MP Byrne said: “They made such a contribution to my community and such a positive impact. People still talk about it to this day, how good they were, how engaged, and it was good for them as well. They were from all different backgrounds across the world, and they came to Liverpool, saw the warmth of Liverpool and saw the deprivation too. They got an understanding of why we need the Right to Food. It’s made a huge impact on me personally, seeing the power of our academia; if it’s done correctly and gets out of its comfort zone, it can be a huge force for good.”
Ian Byrne MP
Dr Murphy Keith added: “The end of the UN Decade of Action for Nutrition is in September 2025 and nutrition goals are not being reached or invested in effectively. Over three billion people cannot afford a healthy diet, while over 700 million go to bed hungry daily. In the UK over ten million families now struggle with food insecurity and low-cost food is often processed leading to health problems such as diabetes and obesity.”
“Together we want to put community back into the equation. We need to value, listen and act on the issues that communities raise. Community voices should always feed into policies and practice. This requires political leadership and disrupting the power of the food industry.”
The Community Conversations project contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2: Zero Hunger, 3: Good Health and Wellbeing and 10: Reduced Inequalities. Since 2016, the GPHN course has aligned it teaching to the UN SDGs and University of Westminster has used the SDGs holistically to frame strategic decisions since 2019, to help students and colleagues fulfil their potential and contribute to a more sustainable, equitable and healthier society.
Find out more about studying Nutrition and Public Health at the University of Westminster.
Carousel picture 2: Attendees and speakers at the event including Ian Byrne MP (far left), Dr Regina Murphy Keith (third left), Dr Sharon Noonan-Gunning (centre left), Alexandra Sutton (back), Councillor Kemi Akinola (third right) and Rose Dakuo (far right)
