Radical rethink of food production required

The assessment shows that the UK is doing well in many areas which make up a secure and sustainable food system.

The challenges will be to ensure the sustainability of the UK’s food supply. In particular there is a need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to a changing climate that will affect what food can be grown and where and how it can be grown. The assessment also highlights the depletion of fish stocks. 

“Last year the world had a wake-up call with the sudden oil and food price rises. While we know the price of our food, the full environmental costs and the costs to our health are significant and hidden.

“We need a radical rethink of how we produce and consume our food,” Benn said. 

The minister underlined three big challenges that needed to be met: How to meet the economic and environmental challenges of increased productivity in the food chain; how to help people eat more healthily and ensure people have access to safe, affordable food; and how to ensure that the way food is produced today doesn’t damage the natural resources on which future food production depends.