Farming minister David Heath, it would be fair to say, has had a baptism of fire since taking the seat at DEFRA last September.
But despite an almost endless supply of poor weather and, not forgetting, the fallout from the horsemeat scandal to contend with, Heath remains in good spirits when I visit him at DEFRA’s Whitehall HQ.
After a warm introduction, and a joke or two about the most recent episode of TV fantasy drama Game of Thrones, Heath’s passion for the fresh produce industry immediately
shines through.
“We have some of the best growers and food producers in the world in this country. I don’t think we make enough of a song and dance about that,” he begins.
Last year’s warning from the NFU that British food production had fallen by more than 20 per cent over the last decade, and that many commercial crops had subsequently become ‘endangered’, sent shockwaves across the fresh produce industry, but Heath insists that DEFRA will fight hard to safeguard British crops.
He explains: “We need to up our game as we have a rising population, but we are better placed than many other countries to deal with production issues. The key is to reverse things sustainably while increasing the amount we produce and reduce inputs as much as possible; I believe our agri-tech strategy is making positive strides in addressing these concerns.”
Heath believes one of the best ways to increase home-grown food production will be to entice more young people into horticulture and, having launched The Future of Farming Review to directly address the issue earlier this year, the farming minister insists that it’s now imperative that the fresh produce industry revitalises its ‘tired’ image among today’s youth.
“Over recent years we have quite simply failed to stress the opportunities of agriculture to young people and whether it’s through food manufacturing, growing, marketing or R&D, we must get our brightest students into the food industry.”
The UK will need an estimated 70,000 new farmers and farm workers over the next five years in order to fulfil production, but Heath insists the government is heading in the right direction in securing more agricultural workers.“I am conscious when I visit all the big food companies of how desperate they are for technologists, plant scientists and engineers, yet you compare it to an applied science such as forensics and students are lining up to get involved.” He adds with a wry smile: “Perhaps farming needs its own version of CSI! The image of farmers being sad men in the rain has to change.”
DEFRA secretary of state Owen Paterson has repeatedly backed the introduction of GM crops in recent times and Heath admits implementation, although unlikely, across Europe could prove to be one of the key answers to feeding a rising global population. “GM is one technology among many, but it remains unique in that it has been banned from making any real progress within the EU. I don’t think we should be rejecting a helpful technology based on superstitious grounds and we should look sensibly at whether it could make sense in aiding certain growing applications. For heaven’s sake, the rest of the world has been eating GM soya for a while now and nobody’s keeled over.”
Wholesale remains a healthy market for the UK and with the government-owned New Covent Garden Market currently in the process of being redeveloped into a 550,000 sq ft site filled with modern facilities, Heath hopes the market can become the nation’s “centre of excellence for fresh produce”. Having visited the market to meet with Covent Garden Market Authority (CGMA) and Covent Garden Market Tenants’ Association (CGTA) –who have disagreed on aspects of the redesign – on several occasions, Heath is confident in its future.
“I guess in an odd way you could say I am the landlord of NCGM. Look, we now have an opportunity to produce something that is more focused and better equipped to become a real centre of excellence for both fruit and vegetables and the flower market. At the moment we don’t use the land efficiently enough so we have been having a lot of discussions so we can accommodate all the wholesalers at the new site sensibly.I don’t just want a new forward-thinking market but one that ends up as a internationally recognised focal point for the British food industry.”
One subject the government can’t shake off is talk about the 5 A DAY scheme and whether or not it is effectively combating the rising levels of obesity in the UK. A study by research firm Nielsen recently suggested that 22 per cent of the UK population consumes its 5 A DAY, a level higher than the rest of Europe, but with DEFRA recently releasing statistics claiming that the rate of 5 A DAY consumption among UK women and men had fallen by a respective rate of three and four per cent since 2006, there is a number of conflicting messages on the UK’s level of healthy eating.
“It is always difficult to link cause and effect when it comes to 5 A DAY,” insists Heath. “I don’t think anyone can deny that there is a greater awareness of healthy eating in this country than ever before but this will be a long and strenuous process so the only way to maintain positive progress it is to keep on hammering home the message that a varied diet, using the best of British produce, is the absolute right way to go.”
Before leaving the minister’s office the inevitable topic of last year’s poor weather is raised. British growers are still recovering after enduring the highest amount of rainfall in over 100 years, and despite DEFRA investing millions in flood prevention schemes, Heath believes science is the best way to aid growers.
“We have some truly world-beating scientists and R&D firms in this country and we need to make sure they are clearly focused on transferable technology of use to the grower in the field. There is only so much we can do to protect rural communities, so developing more weather-resistant crops and investing in varietal development is definitely the way to go.I live in Somerset, so you can trust me when I say that I’d love to be able to control the weather.”
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