Food security just as crucial as energy supply, conference told

ENSURING food security is just as important to the world’s future as energy supply, British Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Hilary Benn, told delegates at the Oxford Farming Conference yesterday.

He was unveiling the British government’s food strategy, Food 2030, which outlines the challenges in maintaining a secure food supply at a time of rapid population growth, climate change, droughts and rising oil prices.

Farming and food businesses contribute more than £80 billion (€88.9m) to Britain’s economy and represent its largest manufacturing sector, employing 3.6 million people.

Britain’s 20-year food strategy also looks at making people eat more healthily and throwing less food away.

Mr Benn said shoppers had led the push for more free-range eggs and could do the same for sustainable locally produced food.

“We need to produce more food. We need to do it sustainably. And we need to make sure that what we eat safeguards our health. We know that the consequences of the way we produce and consume our food are unsustainable to our planet and to ourselves.

“There are challenges for everyone involved in the food system, from production right through to managing food waste.

“We know we are at one of those moments in our history where the future of our economy, our environment, and our society will be shaped by the choices we make now,” he said.

Mr Benn said people power can help bring about a revolution in the way food is produced and sold.

Food businesses, including supermarkets and food manufacturers, would follow consumer demand for food that is local, healthy and has been produced with a smaller environmental footprint.

He also said government and food businesses needed to support consumers by providing more accurate information about the origin and nutritional content of the food they buy.

Shadow secretary Nick Herbert announced at the same conference that the Conservatives in government would appoint a supermarket ombudsman to protect farmers and consumers from the power of supermarkets. The role would embrace a range of responsibilities, such as settling disputes between retailers and suppliers and enforcing the honest labelling of products.

Calling for a “new age of agriculture” to support British farmers, he said that requires a new start.

He said government must understand that it cannot take farmers closer to the market while undermining their ability to compete.