Food security and sustainability continue to be hot topics for debate and, in July, I was invited by DEFRA to attend a round table discussion on ways to increase production and consumption of fruit and vegetables, resulting in evidence being provided to the government’s Council of Food Policy Advisors, which is tasked to identify barriers facing UK production. You will no doubt have noticed DEFRA secretary of state Hilary Benn and a tranche of others on TV and radio over the last few days offering a variety of perspectives and persuasions on food sustainability, some of which frankly border on the bizarre.

At the FPC, we send a clear message - there is a significant opportunity for UK growers to increase the sustainable production of indigenous crops suited to our climate. However, it is important to think outside the box - or the UK - and see that the industry is proactively implementing initiatives to achieve food production in a low-carbon world, calculating emissions, reducing excess packaging and increasing recycling, in addition to reducing food waste and recovering energy. There are some tough challenges ahead and we look forward to further involvement with DEFRA on your behalf, in particular the Food 2030 discussions.

It is reassuring to know that worries about food safety issues continue to fall, according to the latest survey by the Food Standards Agency. UK consumers expressed most concern about food poisoning and the amount of fat, salt, sugar and saturated fat in food, followed by food prices and animal welfare, with concerns about pesticide residues continuing to decline.

Thanks to those of you who answered our request for information on company waste for the Waste & Resources Action Programme project, ‘Developing Resource Maps for Fresh Fruit and Vegetables through the Retail Supply Chain’. It is absolutely key that as an industry we play our part by providing robust information in order to influence future waste policy.

We were delighted to join Hayford & Rhodes to celebrate the Covent Garden Market Authority Re:fresh Florist of the Year and to offer our congratulations and wish them every success in the future.

I wish you happy holidays during the month of August and for those of us staying in the UK, preferably a dry sunny one!