The Sustainable Food Trust has published a briefing paper ahead of Labour conference calling for the party to prioritise food systems, which are is essential to deliver the government’s key missions of health, economic stability and green growth.
The briefing paper, written by Lesley Mitchell, the SFT’s Policy Director, said, “All eyes will be on the Labour conference this September for further announcements on food, farming and the environment. While food and farming are at the heart of UK society, they are not currently a priority mission for the Labour Government.
“With the spectre of a potential cut in the agriculture budget in October, the Sustainable Food Trust is calling for the UK Government to rally behind the sustainable food sector and put in place the necessary budget and policies that will enable UK farmers to deliver healthy sustainable food.
“Food and farming are integral to all of Labour’s missions, and their impacts are interlinked across health, economic stability and green growth for net zero.
“In fact, fixing the UK’s food system could be considered a priority government mission itself.”
The briefing paper highlights eight key priorities for the agriculture budget and wider policy:
- Align the future agriculture budget with the scale of need and reflect its contribution across Labour’s missions
- Recognise the scale of transformation needed to deliver these outcomes and work with regenerative farmers to build the expertise and innovation to deliver productive farming systems
- The agriculture budget needs to reflect the realities of transformation (such as stranded assets and new investment) and to support vulnerable jobs and communities e.g. in rural upland areas
- Ensure quality farmer support and advice is effectively funded to drive transformation
- Create policy that leverages private finance and food sector business strategy to accelerate transformation and multiply impact
- Underpin the transformation through an integrated approach to food and farming policy, reflecting its reach across Labour’s missions
- Ensure public money is well spent through the development of harmonised metrics and impact measurement across a range of social and environmental, as well as economic, impacts (for example the Global Farm Metric)
- Ensure children and young people have the opportunity to build their understanding of the value of nature-friendly food production in the UK through financial support for on-farm visits and other education opportunities.