A new food strategy has “shamefully squandered” an opportunity to tackle both the climate and cost of living crises, Brighton MP Caroline Lucas said.
The Food Strategy for England, published yesterday, focuses on “backing farmers”, strengthening local supply chains and boosting food production with a £270 million investment in technology.
But Brighton Pavilion’s Green MP said leaving out recommendations such as a tax on sugar and salt in processed foods or an expansion of free school meals had left it “stripped to the bone.”
She said: “The word ‘half-baked’ has never been more appropriate.
“When we’re facing a dual climate and nature crisis, at the same time as people’s food bills are spiralling, this opportunity for a joined-up, transformative strategy has never been more urgently needed – nor more shamefully squandered.
“Shockingly, commitments to encourage imports with high animal welfare and environmental standards, and any ambitions to reduce meat consumption, have been dropped at the behest of multinational corporations and the industrial agriculture lobby.
“And the utter decimation of the Landscape Recovery Scheme to transform farming land into nature-rich forests, peatlands and wetlands, makes a net-zero agriculture sector so much harder to achieve.”
Her disappointment was echoed by Vic Borrill, director of Brighton and Hove Food Partnership.
She said: “As one of the expert organisations invited and involved in the consultation process, we are very disappointed that most of the recommendations in the National Food Strategy report by Henry Dimbleby have been ignored.
“This document isn’t a strategic response to the challenges, it is a wasted opportunity.”
