An Asda boss has pleaded for businesses and stakeholders to “leave their baggage at the door” in the search for a sustainable way forward in agriculture.
In debating who is responsible for change in the food industry at a conference in London, Paul Kelly, head of corporate affairs at Asda, told delegates that collaboration without tension would be vital if progress was to be made quickly in the search to implement a viable, long-term food system.
Kelly said the approach should be three-pronged through dealing with access to food, making it affordable and making it ethically acceptable. He also urged the audience at the Soil Association’s Future of Food conference to consider those living in poverty in the UK before deciding to drive up the price of food to support producers.
But Kelly insisted that the retailer continued to support growers in the UK and further afield. He said: “Supermarkets do have a role to play in ensuring a resilient food chain. Supermarkets are highly efficient organisations that are also flexible and adapt to what people want, as we do when we serve our customers. We are committed to local sourcing and supporting smaller producers.
“We stepped in and supported our producers when the recession hit and banks didn’t give them credit. We will continue to do that and it is a good model for the supply chain.
“We have to be the many and not the few in finding sustainable solutions. Collaboration has to be between government, food businesses and society. It is hard but we have to leave our baggage and differences at the door in dealing with this.”
Kelly said supporting the UK should remain a priority: “If we pay more for food then we will hurt those in poverty in this country. Whether we should wait for the government to pass down its vision is arguable, but it is clear it cannot be an ‘us versus them’ situation. Be it supermarkets against cornershops or organics versus intensive farming, these differences need to be put aside to look at the best approach.”
Sue Gibb of the Sustainable Development Commission, which advises DEFRA on its sustainable policy, said the food industry could “not afford hang around on this issue” and that the ‘win wins’ in sustainable strategies such as preventing food waste and saving money should be foremost to make it easier for consumer behaviour to improve.
She said: “Consumers are asking ‘make it easy for me’. For most people, their behaviour is bound by what is easier in terms of time or money, so we need to make the sustainable choices harder to turn down.”
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