Time for a national food plan

Note: The Social Market Foundation has invited parliamentary candidates from across the major parties to contribute an essay on a policy topic of their choice. To be clear, this does not represent an endorsement of any candidate in the election. The SMF remains strictly non-partisan.

Britain loves its food. We have become a nation of foodies but with growing inequalities between the food haves and have nots. The global shocks of the last five years have put a new spotlight on the need to take food seriously as a political issue. The fragility of today’s economy, environment and conflicts all make the case that food security is now a key driver of our national security.

In the last year we have seen food price inflation top 15%, ongoing instability to global food supplies caused by the ongoing war in Ukraine, and recent episodes of extreme weather. From flood to drought, there is no escaping the impact of changing weather patterns on farming and communities. Food security should rank alongside energy security as part of our DNA for a more prosperous, sustainable and resilient country. The government is beginning to respond to these challenges but it should not have taken the aftershocks of Russia’s war on Ukraine to reveal the risks facing our farms and food sector.

The last significant food plan was published by the Labour government in 2008. Writing in different circumstances, Prime Minister Gordon Brown stated in Food 2030: “Good safe food on our plates is taken for granted by most people – and so it should be.” Much has changed since then for farmers, consumers and the planet. Despite commissioning Henry Dimbleby to conduct an independent review of the food system, and the subsequent publication of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)’s 2022 Food Strategy, government action on food over the last decade has been woeful. The 2022 strategy failed to grapple with the scale of the challenges facing farmers, food security and public health. The public row with Dimbleby in 2023, where the former accused the Conservatives of having ‘lost their way’ over public health aspects of food, highlighted the failure of the government to deliver on its own promises.

My idea is simple. It is time for a new food plan. Just as Keir Starmer has called for a decade of renewal, a new government needs to focus on a long-term plan for food. Food cuts across Labour’s missions and could be a driver of growth as well as tackling inequality. As the former National Farmers’ Union (NFU) President Minette Batters said, “Food is something that connects us all – we cannot live without it.” This doesn’t have to be about increasing spending, but using public leadership and expenditure more wisely and in a joined-up way to deliver greater productivity, sustainability and better public outcomes.

I’ve seen this first-hand through my own field-to-fork tour as a parliamentary candidate to learn more about the experiences of food producers, businesses, and residents in and around Peterborough. As the gateway to the Fens, food and farming are part of our identity. From giving farmers the support and tools to manage the virus yellows disease that affects the beet harvest through to ensuring fair prices for farmers in the food supply chain, to tackling rural crime and encouraging a new generation into farming, there is much to be done. Increasingly, however, food poverty is an added challenge to the food agenda with an ever-growing number of families relying on help to feed their children and to manage the basics in life.

So, what themes might this plan address?

Theme 1: Leadership and ambition

We need to grow and make more in the UK. We currently produce 60% of the food we eat, but we need to go further if we want to increase our resilience in the supply chains the food industry relies on. Labour has already set out targets for public sector food procurement. The next government should also set out targets for food production in relation to our national security and economic growth, just as we have ambitious targets in energy and climate policy. This should be backed by a regular report to Parliament on food security. We should introduce food security impact assessments to ensure policy supports growth and sustainable production. More importantly, we need to bring food centre stage in government. Defra has been on the periphery of Whitehall for too long. One suggestion would be for a Cabinet committee or joint co-ordination so that food goes beyond to include industrial strategy, planning and skills.

Theme 2: Food industrial strategy

Food and drink is already the UK’s largest manufacturing sector, contributing £128 billion to the national economy and employing more than 4 million people, yet it fails to attract as much attention as other sectors. A national food plan would build on that to ensure we have a food industrial strategy to recognise the importance of the sector in driving growth, particularly in rural communities. Food is largely absent when levelling up, jobs or future growth are discussed in Westminster. Farming should also be a key part of our export strategy because, as Keir Starmer told the 2023 NFU conference, ‘growth means having a plan for trade.’ The current government’s approach, as seen with the UK Australian Free Trade Deal, shows how little weight farming carries in international agreements. Farming and its supply chain need a government on their side willing to work through the complex challenges of trade.

Theme 3: Fairer markets and opportunities

Ambition for growth also needs to be matched with fairer opportunities for small growers and businesses, as well as workers in the sector. The food plan needs to address workforce issues, in particular jobs, skills and seasonal labour. The next government needs to break out of the departmental silo and ensure that key policies, such as reform of the Apprenticeship Levy, help address the needs of farmers and smaller producers to attract new entrants into the sector. Labour plans for a Growth and Skills Levy must address the needs of rural businesses and farms, especially for small producers who struggle under existing rules. Fairer opportunities must address the needs of tenant farmers. The role of the Groceries Code Adjudicator should be examined to see how it can ensure the big retailers play fairly and don’t squeeze farmers and small producers.

Theme 4: Innovation, science and sustainability

Sustainability and productivity both require investment alongside leadership to ensure the UK remains at the cutting edge of innovation. The Social Market Foundation highlighted the potential for precision technology and agri-tech to transform productivity of the sector in its Moovin’ on up report in 2022. The SMF called for better knowledge exchange and development of digital technology, including a new ‘What Works Centre for Agriculture’. Labour has already set out ambitious plans for life sciences and innovation. There is an opportunity to bring this focus to farming with something like a science and innovation council to bring together the best evidence and opportunities for UK farming to excel at production, carbon management and sustainability. The UK is a world leader in science; we need to make sure we can also be a world-leader in the commercial application of these opportunities for food production and security. Managing water and soil will be vital to this. We need a new partnership between regulators like the Environment Agency, farmers and rural communities to deliver the benefits required from environmental stewardship.

Theme 5: Tacking food poverty and health

The recent experience of the COVID-19 pandemic and cost-of-living crisis has deepened health inequalities around food. The rise of food poverty, obesity and mental health problems cuts across government departments and impacts us all either personally or through the opportunity cost of taxpayers’ money intervening once problems become acute. According to the latest data, around 64% of adults and 40% of children in England are overweight or living with obesity. A proactive food plan needs to address the health, education, and social impacts of food poverty.

A fresh start for farming

Security is transforming how we look at public policy, from defence and global energy prices to the cost-of-living crisis and jobs. Food security needs to be high in that mix. The ability of a nation to protect, defend and look after itself in an increasingly insecure world is a key responsibility of government. But we should also want to go beyond the basics. Britain could be a leading country in agri-tech and sustainable farming. Food manufacturing can drive growth and support secure jobs. Innovation can also help us reduce the inequality gap helping to tackle food poverty and public health outcomes. It is time for food to become centre-stage in our public life.