UK food production moves up political agenda with formation of Council of Food Policy

The Council of Food Policy Advisers will take a strategic approach to food policy and will include expertise from every sector of the food system – from production to retail, and from regulation and distribution to consumption. It will advise the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) on the security of supply and the environmental impact of food production, as well as food affordability.  It will also contribute to the policy for food security and supply which is expected to be published later this year.

Commenting on the new Council, Environment Secretary, Hilary Benn, said: “Our food supplies must remain secure, and we must have a strong, thriving, environmentally sustainable farming industry in this country that continues to produce a significant proportion of our food.

“The expert team will draw in expertise on every aspect of our food system, providing advice from the farm to the fork. It is time for a more strategic approach to food policy, and the Council will provide that strategic oversight and ensure our policies support a sustainable food system that provides safe, affordable and healthy food.”

The Council of Food is the first such high level body to have been set up by the UK Government since the Second World War. It follows the publication of a major new report by the Food Climate Research Network, based at the University of Surrey, which warns that people will need to be rationed to four modest portions of meat and one litre of milk a week if the world is to avoid catastrophic climate change.

The make up and timescale of the new Council has yet to be decided.

Meanwhile, Defra has confirmed its new ministerial team. Three new ministers have joined Hilary Benn, who continues as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Jane Kennedy joins the department as Minister for Farming and the Environment from the Treasury. where she was Financial Secretary since June 2007.  

Phil Hunt joins as Minister for Sustainable Development, Climate Change Adaptation and Air Quality. He was previously at the Ministry of Justice where he was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State since June 2007.

Huw Irranca-Davies joins Defra as Minister for the Natural and Marine Environment, Wildlife and Rural Affairs. He joins from the Wales Office where he has been Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales since June 2007.