Huw Irranca-Davies said that that food security is possibly is in danger. The key to solving the issue was to produce more units of food or to make efficiencies. He also referred to research from IMECHE on crop wastage of between 10% and 30% from the crop before it even leaves the field. Clearly this needs to be reduced to minimise food waste and maximise food security.
He called for: “a rational dialogue on technology within agriculture to be led by the public and Scientific Community”.
He said it was not always true to say that the Labour party opposed innovation and technology in agriculture and he added: “I was the Agriculture minister who protected GM trials”.
He said that people wanted good quality food that they could trust, and that therefore the industry should proceed cautiously with agricultural innovation with evidence based decision making.
Nick von Westonholz from the
Crop Protection Associationsaid that the global population was likely to increase from 7 billion now to 9 billion by 2050 and that in order to cope with this increase, the solutions are multi-faceted. He agreed that there was an important role of reducing waste and redistribution of food and he called for a situation that “allows us to innovate, research and develop”.
He said the Crop Protection Association represented agri-chemical producers which were used by 97% of farmers and that it was important to recognise that these products were a mainstream part of farming and are now even more crucial if we are to feed the world.
Vicky Hird from Friends of the Earth said a healthy scepticism to agricultural innovation is a good thing and that thus far there had been a real lack of attention to impacts. She paid tribute to the continued good work at Rothampsted, the UK’s longest standing agricultural research centre.
She cited research done there on how some agricultural fertilizers and pesticides can affect bees, earth worms and other invertebrates and that this needs to be taken into account.
She said it was a question of how we use existing food and how we managed risks. “Friends of the Earth is very keen on science and in favour of new technology where it is properly regulated”. But she added that food security was primarily a political issue.
Melanie Leech from the Food and Drink Federation said food security was ‘not necessarily’ in danger, but that the wider sector had to continue to embrace innovation.
She explained that the FDF represented 400,000 people in the UK food manufacturing sector, which was the only sector not to suffer in the economic downturn.
She said it was “critical to take consumers with us” and then mentioned the ‘Every Last Drop’ campaign to save water within the food production industry and added that hopefully by 2015, the industry will hit the target of zero food waste going to landfill.
She highlighted the salt reduction programme and said we needed to be evidence and risk based in our assessment.
She concluded by saying the FDF and the food production community was looking to the next government to take these issues on and deliver the necessary changes to our diet and food security.
Richard Reeves (Chairman NFU North West Crops Board) is an arable farmer in the North West and produces barley and grain. He said there had been huge advances in plant breeding, use of fertilizers and chemicals in 1970s when he started farming. He added that in the next 20 years the Common Agricultural Policy became “a mantra to produce food at all costs” and that it had some detrimental impact on the environment.
He said that the UK cereal farmers had just had a record harvest this year, but that we were “still only one year away from food price spikes”. He added the farmers often felt pulled in different directions by both politicians and scientists, with the global population increasing and arable land declining and not coming back into use for farming.
He concluded by saying that whilst we haven’t seen a global environmental disaster this year we are never very far away from one and this in turn affects food supply and food prices.
Huw Irranca-Davies MP said climate change was having a huge global impact on food production. He added how technology and innovation can help countries where crops can go to waste if they are not harvested in time and taken to market.
He said that as a former Agriculture minister it was disappointing that bio-diversity is currently off the government’s agenda.
The panel also discussed the European Commission ban on Neonicotinoid pesticides; concern about bees and pollinators, problems with flea beetle affecting UK crops, the horsemeat scandal and cuts to trading standards inspectors.
Nick von Westenholz concluded by saying crop protection was declining across Europe from 35% to 7%. He added this would only increase food imports from other countries than in many cases can barely afford to feed their own people.
Huw Irranca-Davies concluded by saying the next Labour government would reform the Food Standards Agency and correct restructuring of it under the present government. He also stated that Britain needed a food plan in place to foster more sustainable food production across the piece.