Government publishes integrated food policy report

While food price rises continue to make headlines, the government is looking at the environmental impact of food production.

The Cabinet Office has published the results of a 10-month Strategy Unit project looking at food policy across government in an attempt to address the related issues of environmental impact, pricing and public health in a joined-up way.

"The rise of popular interest in food policy issues, and growing public awareness of the impact of what we choose to eat on everything from animal welfare to our health and the protection of the environment, has seen a massive transformation in Britain's food culture over the past 10 years," said the prime minister Gordon Brown.

While the report has been welcomed by food industry experts, it has also been criticised for not going far enough or taking into account work already being done by retailers to address the environmental impact of food production.

“The study has rightly recognised the huge environmental impact of the sector, and has accurately identified the key issues and important emerging trends affecting UK food supplies,” said Beverley Parrish, associate director for consultancy WSP’s environment and energy specialist food and drink sector team.

“The vision the government sets out for a sustainable food system is to be applauded, as is its recognition of the paramount importance of policy integration.

"While the document correctly recognises that the government cannot achieve its objectives in isolation, the new framework for food policy appears to make no mention of how it could harness the power of the supermarkets to help it achieve these objectives,” added Parrish.

“Appropriate engagement with the retail sector, some members of which are already working on similar themes, could have a positive impact on all the key policy objectives. Failure to incorporate the retail sector in their plans seems to be a serious omission and will render all the planned studies and policy-making largely irrelevant.”

The government report says the UK should take a leading role in helping the world to meet the twin challenges of climate change and global food security.

Professor John Beddington, the government's chief scientific adviser, is commissioning a new project on these issues. It will explore how the food system and its associated policies will need to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

The report recommends that government should launch a public engagement initiative to highlight the complex nature of food policy, including pricing, food safety, healthier diet and better environmental performance.

It says the UK must work with other European countries to promote the role of agriculture in mitigating and adapting to climate change; Defra will take this forward with other major partners, such as Germany and France, to build consensus on priorities and secure effective action.

The food chain creates 18 per cent of UK greenhouse gas emissions. Farming and fishing contribute about half of this total. Changes to farming practices, such as more efficient use of fertiliser and providing animals with diets that specifically match their nutrient requirements could reduce emissions from agriculture.

"The lessons of the ’green revolution' of the last century need to be learned as we work to achieve food security in this century,” said Hilary Benn, environment secretary. “In the future our planet will be adjusting to the effects of climate change with economies that need to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It is in this context that we must base our efforts.”

The World Bank estimates that cereal production needs to increase by 50 per cent and meat production 80 per cent between 2000 and 2030 to meet demand.

The report commits the government to consulting the public and stakeholders on many of its conclusions. This work will be led by Defra and completed by autumn 2009. Annual reports of progress against the report's recommendations will be published in summer 2009 and 2010.