Digesting the election: the new politics of sustainable food

After the pre-election promises comes the hard work for our new coalition government. With the new Chancellor of the Exchequer spelling out cuts in every Whitehall department, including £162 million at Defra, how will food and farming be affected?

At a high-level seminar run by the Food Ethics Council, business executives last week looked at how the changes at Defra might affect their industry.

They found that:

• Defra’s new team of Conservative ministers share a background in farming and a Eurosceptic voting record;
• Defra is expected to focus more on its agricultural remit and less on the environment; and
• In the short-term, the need to cut the budget deficit will have an overwhelming influence on government activity, and Defra seems particularly vulnerable to cuts.

Dr. Tom MacMillan, Food Ethics Council executive director, urges the government to be bold in its vision for the future of food and farming in the UK. He says:

“The Food Ethics Council is increasingly hearing calls from industry for government to show leadership. Businesses and trade associations are running up against threats to their reputation and supply chains that they can’t address alone.

“Government needs to provide a clear vision of how to square difficult issues in the public interest, transforming the market through public procurement and influencing the international policy agenda.

”Our role is to continue to highlight the strengthened mandate government has from business to act – as government should – in the broader public interest. It’s time to get on with it.”

Looking to examples – good and bad – of how to make food policy around the world, the Food Ethics Council asked key global influencers on food policy to tell us how the UK could do it better.

Experts discuss the merits of tackling hunger through social protection programmes in Brazil, of giving farmers a voice through citizens’ juries in Mali, and of setting up regional food policy councils to influence government in the US and Canada. Closer to home, we analyse the making of Scotland’s food policy, and renowned expert Tim Lang assesses the last decade of action on food policy in the UK.

To read 'Food policy: who decides' and 'Digesting the election: the new politics of sustainable food', contact Lisa Unsworth on 01273 766 654 or go to www.foodethicscouncil.org.

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Notes to editors

1. To interview Dr. Tom MacMillan, or discuss the new politics of food further, contact our press office on 01273 766 654.

2. Digesting the election: the new politics of sustainable food is a report of the Food Ethics Council’s Business Forum. This is a high-level discussion series for food and farming industry insiders to listen to expert speakers on some of the most pressing issues affecting their industry.

3. Food policy: who decides is the summer 2010 edition of the Food Ethics magazine, which takes an in-depth look at issues affecting food and farming. The magazine is quarterly and is available from Lisa Unsworth on 01273 766 654 or lisa@foodethicscouncil.org.