Securing Food Supplies up to 2050

This report by House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee report makes the following points...

• The UK has a moral obligation to contribute to the global challenge of securing future food supplies.
• The UK must bmake the most of its temperate climate and the natural advantages this gives it for producing food but does not recommend targets for production.
• Defra must provide vision an leadership and build capacity in the food and farming sectors.
• How food is produced is as important as how much. We will need to reduce GHG emissions, reduce reliance on fossil fuel inputs and conserve soil and water.
• Consumer engagement will be vital.
• The report does not advocate food self-sufficiency for the UK and emphasises the importance of strong trading relationships with a variety of countries.
• The challenge of securing food supplies must take place in a European and global context and the report calls for the focus of the reformed Common Agricultural Policy to be on sustainable food production, whilst encouraging European farmers to make their contribution to meeting the world's future food demands.
• The report highlights the development of "food colonialism" or "land grabbing" - a phenomenon that involves the large-scale acquisition of land overseas by wealthy investors in order to grow food for people in the investor country. The report warns about the about the pressure this could place on the global food system over time and believes that Defra must take the implications of this phenomenon seriously.
• There is an urgent need for an increase in spending on public-sector food and farming research.