Defra minister George Eustice has claimed there needs to be a realignment of the UK food supply chain to give smaller producers more of a fighting chance.
Speaking in a debate on sustainability at Food Matters Live in London this week, Eustice said there was concern about the long-term resilience of domestic producers. “At the primary production stage it is fragmented,” he explained. “We need to look at different models of a more integrated supply chain that shares the risk so it’s not all small farmers who are taking that risk.”
Eustice, who pointed out that Defra is working to a 25-year food and farming plan focused on everything from technology and IPM to talent and global trade, added that the government is keen to change the public’s perception of and relationship with food.
The subject of sustainable diets was also hotly debated, and Professor Tim Benton, UK champion for global food security, said that nutrition was pivotal to the future of the environment. “I think we must now move towards a world of sustainable nutrition. We must buy less, waste less. We and the planet can be healthier if we don’t waste almost 50 per cent of the food we produce.'
- Responding to a question from chairman Jonathan Dimbleby, Eustice also confirmed that the government has contingency plans in place to deal with a possible terrorist attack targeting the food supply chain.
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