There has been much chatter this week over the make-up of the government’s food strategy expert group amid murmurs that the process has been captured by big business interests.
To recap: last Friday Defra revealed the names of the leading food experts tasked with advising ministers on the development of a cross-governmental food strategy for England. It will be chaired by minister of state for food security and rural affairs, Daniel Zeichner, and includes representatives from both Defra (Emily Miles) and the Department of Health and Social Care (Professor Chris Whitty).
Eyebrows have been raised by the fact that, of the remaining 11 experts, seven come from the mainstream food industry. That includes a representative from Cranswick, the meat processor that has been embroiled in controversy over its planning application for a mega-pig farm in Norfolk, along with frozen and chilled foods giants McCain Foods and Kerry Foods.
There are undoubtedly some progressive voices among the industry cohort, including Bidfood CEO Andrew Selley – a signatory to last year’s Hope Farm Statement that called for legally binding national food systems targets alongside tighter regulation on unhealthy food – but the overall sense from the outside looking in is that the group is lopsided. Alongside a farmer, Sam Godfrey, just three people bring a non-commercial voice to the table – Anna Taylor of the Food Foundation, Susan Jebb who chairs the Food Standards Agency and is Professor of diet and population health at the University of Oxford, and Ravi Gurumurthy from Nesta, the UK innovation agency for social good.
Vicki Hird, strategic lead on agriculture at The Wildlife Trusts, wrote on social media that “this is not at all a balanced board reflecting the needs of society”. Others pointed to the lack of specific, independent environmental expertise within the group, while some suggested the heavy skew towards industry (trade bodies like the Food and Drink Federation will also receive regular engagement) points towards an outcome that favours incremental, voluntary approaches over the kind of transformational recommendations many believe are needed to solve the myriad challenges facing the food system.
It’s another difficult situation to navigate for beleaguered Defra secretary of state, Steve Reed, who remains under fire from farmers for the government’s inheritance tax raid and decision to abruptly close the sustainable farming incentive scheme. Eager no doubt to bolster the credit side of his personal ledger, Reed this week fronted the launch of a new plan to kick-start the circular economy. Speaking in London, he confirmed the first five priority sectors in focus for the independent Circular Economy Taskforce will be textiles, transport, construction, agri-food, and chemicals and plastics. Chaired by Andrew Morlet, former CEO of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the taskforce will work with these sectors to create a series of specific roadmaps to improve and reform the approach to using materials, underpinned by a circular economy strategy which will be published in the autumn. The government says the ultimate aim is to make reuse and repair the norm and end the throwaway society.
Also launching this week is a new project with the aim to scale regenerative farming globally. Led by the Sustainable Markets Initiative, the ‘Routes to Regen’ project wants to show how regenerative farming can be made into a more attractive business proposition for UK farmers when supported by cross-sector collaboration. The project will take place in the East of England throughout 2025 and is supported by food and finance businesses including McCain Foods, McDonald’s, Lloyds Banking Group, Waitrose & Partners, NatWest, Barclays, Aon, Tokio Marine Kiln and Lloyd’s. Participating farmers will be provided with a ‘menu’ of support options including financial support, such as discounted seeds for cover crops and pollinators, technical support in areas like measurement and data collection, and peer-to-peer support via knowledge sharing events.
Elsewhere in Footprint news this week:
· Regulators are looking to fast-track approvals for precision fermented foods. More
· Research finds high levels of salt and sugar in popular crisps, nuts and popcorn products. More
· AI is being used to trawl restaurant reviews for possible sources of foodborne illness. More
seems odd to do that circular economy speech with such passion and not have a specialist on it in the Food Strat advisory Board.. but then if its not about FMCG but more lasting stuff… a missed opportunity to look at key nutrient, water, material flows etc in food systems IMHO