BSustained

DEFRA, the Government Department for the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, is inviting you to comment on FOOD 2030, a comprehensive re-think of UK food policy.

Government minister Hilary Benn introduces Food 2030 in a short video, and the website is open to comments on a wide range of issues. DEFRA will use the comments when it produces a final version of Food 2030 in the Autumn.

The government is attempting a very holistic view of things, looking at the worldwide food situation over the next 40 years, global warming, health, food poverty, waste, and much more. Let’s hope it leads to some action. Here’s a quote from Food 2030:

The Food System – what are we aiming for?

Food that is produced, processed, distributed and consumed in a society where:

• People choose to eat a healthy diet, and have reliable access to affordable healthy and safe food
• People understand the origins of their food and are able to make informed choices over what they eat
• People treat food as a source of wellbeing and enjoyment e.g. through leisure activities such as growing and cooking food.

Hilary Benn said, “We need everyone in the food system to get involved — from farmers and retailers to the health service, schools and consumers. Our strategy needs to cover all aspects of our food — production, processing, distribution, retail, consumption and disposal.”

And he made the links between food, health and environment:

“Last year the world had a wake-up call with the sudden oil and food price rises, but the full environmental costs and the costs to our health remain significant and hidden. We need to tackle diet-related ill health that already costs the NHS and the wider economy billions of pounds each year.”

It’s been a busy week for DEFRA, who have also published the UK Food Security Assessment.

The UK currently produces only 73% of its own food. In a national or global emergency, we would have to eat a predominantly vegetarian diet — more cereals, fruit and vegetables and less meat and poultry. Why? Because animal production needs a lot more land than crops to get the same amount of food. Cereals now used to feed farm animals would go for human food instead.

DEFRA is inviting you to comment on the issues which led Birgit to set up BSustained. So get over there and tell them what you think! It might just make a difference.

All opinions are Birgit's own and not of any organisation she represents.