Call for Long-Tern Strategic Food Plan

Government policy should be seen through the lens of food security and there should be a long-term strategic food plan in the UK.

Retiring NFU president Peter Kendall, in his opening address to the National Farmers Union Conference in Birmingham, said that the government should view agriculture as key in a broad spectrum of policies beyond just farming and food production.

Mr Kendall hit out at the greening rules that have been included in the reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy laid out by the European Commission.

Mr Kendall told the conference that UK farming needs to produce more food to meet the growing population but at present the country is only 62 per cent self-sufficient but this does not mean reducing exports.

“Exports underpin the home market and trigger investment in domestic production,” he said.

In his call for a long term strategic food plan, Mr Kendall said that it was not only needed for food security, but also because farming is good for business. It is a big part of the national economy and can be part of the economic recovery.

Mr Kendall also called on the UK supermarkets to sell more British food.

He said that following the horsemeat scandal last year, supermarkets had promised to shorten supply chains and stock more British food.