The country’s leaders hope that by adopting a ‘whole government approach’ to system change they can position Northern Ireland as the home of sustainable food. By Nick Hughes.
Food system transformation. That’s the ultimate, and highly ambitious, goal behind the development of Northern Ireland’s new ‘Food strategy framework’. Published by the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs last month on behalf of the Northern Ireland Executive, the document is described as signalling “a radical change in approach to food policy for Northern Ireland”.
That’s a bold claim. Words like radical shouldn’t be bandied around lightly. However the content of the framework supports the idea that this is indeed a prospectus for a transformational shift in how food is produced and sold in Northern Ireland. The overarching vision could have been lifted straight from the manifesto of an NGO working at the intersection of food and the environment: “A transformed innovative food system that protects and enhances natural resources for future generations, is environmentally sustainable, economically ambitious and provides safe, nutritionally balanced, accessible food for all.”
The scope is similarly ambitious. The framework will attempt to succeed where many a UK government food strategy has failed in ensuring “strong alignment across linked policy areas such as agriculture, environment, education [and] economic, social and public health”. Good luck with that, some cynics may snort, but the ambition to place climate, environmental sustainability and public health at the heart of food decision making is one that many experts have been demanding for years.
It’s perhaps no surprise that food is subject to serious, strategic thought in Northern Ireland. Food drives much of the country’s economy with food and drink processing representing Northern Ireland’s largest manufacturing sector. Yet this is not a strategy designed solely to create a more prosperous sector (although that is one of the ambitions), but rather an attempt to design a holistic food policy for a post-Covid, post-Brexit era, shaped by escalating climate change risks and global conflicts. “The challenges presented by these circumstances give us a unique opportunity to re-evaluate and re-shape the future direction of our food system in ways that will benefit generations to come,” the document states.
The foreword strikes all the right notes in recognising the complexity of food systems. Minister of agriculture, environment and rural affairs, Andrew Muir, notes how the framework “recognises the interconnectedness between food, health, the economy and the environment” and stresses how “co-design and collaboration” are at its heart. The food industry, the voluntary and community sector, academia and organisations representing the views of citizens will all have a key role to play in shaping and re-shaping the direction of what is designed to be a “living document” that is responsive to changing circumstances and involves “learning by doing”. Northern Ireland also plans to work with the UK Government, other devolved administrations, and on a North-South basis to deliver its objectives.
So what’s actually in the framework? The plan is built around four strategic priorities:
- enabling improved dietary-related health outcomes through education and increased accessibility to healthy nutritious food;
- building an environmentally sustainable and resilient agri-food supply chain;
- building a prosperous food economy;
- and building a food culture and food-conscious society.
This is not a plan heavy on detail. The focus for each priority is currently descriptive rather than specific. For example, the priority to build an environmentally sustainable and resilient agri-food supply chain will include aspects such as “carbon reduction, reducing food waste, sustainable food packaging including plastic alternatives and opportunities to reduce, reuse or recycle where possible”. It’s top level stuff rather than ‘nuts and bolts’ policy.
Citizens will need to do some of the heavy lifting. The framework talks about how “agri-food businesses will place environmental sustainability at the heart of decision making” but it also envisages a key role for the public with behaviour change seen as “fundamental to achieving the framework vision”. Another priority will be the development of science-based environmental and climate change metrics, communication of which “will be powerful enablers for people to make informed choices that reflect their values”. That assumes that better information drives better decision making. This can’t be taken as a given; indeed much of the framework’s success will depend on how its lofty aims translate into practical action.
Still, you can’t fault the ambition. The idea is that the food strategy framework will form part of Northern Ireland’s wider ‘Green growth strategy’, currently in draft form, which plans to bring together existing government strategies and policies to support green growth. Relevant government departments “will work with other organisations to design and implement collaborative projects that align with the interlinked priority areas in the [food strategy] framework including the development of associated targets, indicators and metrics”. A formal review of its first phase is due to take place in 2030.
