The APPG on the National Food Strategy, chaired by Jo Gideon, MP for Stoke on Trent, had its fourth meeting on 25th May to consider the way in which part 2 of the National Food Strategy might embrace the development of urban food systems, the support for rural communities, and how ‘good food’ jobs might be developed.
The LFP was there.
It was acknowledged that food systems needed to change radically and fundamentally not just to feed the nation (we should import less food) but to tackle food poverty, food obesity, food waste and zero carbon/methane.
The farming population needs to increase, and the trend of larger farms and farm amalgamations reversed.
Living wages need to be universal in the food industry, with state intervention if necessary to ensure this.
Mental health amongst the farming industry in particular, needs to be tackled.
Supply chains need to be shortened and biodiversity actions intensified, but there also needs to be a greater connection between the food economy and food citizenship: food policy is not just about supporting production, but about how the nation uses food in pursuit of physical and mental health.
Needless to say, the LFP will be working to support these changes.