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UK Food Strategy
05/01/2010
The UK Government's new food strategy is a welcome step forward that follows the lead shown by Scotland's first-ever National Food and Drink Policy, Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead said today.
The Food 2030 strategy, unveiled by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs today, highlights the importance of key issues such as food security and country of origin labelling.
The Scottish Government has already signalled the high priority it attaches to these issues and the UK Government's strategy will assist Scotland's vision for maximising food and drink contribution to Scotland's economy, health and environment. The Scottish Government has set itself a target of growing the value of the food and drink industry to £12.5 billion by 2017.
Mr Lochhead said:
"It is good to see DEFRA now recognising the vital function food plays in our economy, our environment and our health and wellbeing and the importance of global food security. The world is changing - climate change and an increasing world population mean a plentiful food supply cannot be taken for granted. The number of people without food is at an all-time high - something we ignore at our peril.
"We now need to see these words backed by deeds. In particular DEFRA must recognise the link between food security and a sustainable agricultural sector and rethink its plans for the future of agricultural support.
"Scotland is ahead of the game and our National Food and Drink Policy recognises how crucial it is to support local producers and suppliers in order to feed our country, and the world, in the coming years.
"We will continue to work with the UK Government to pursue matters of common interest and, in particular, look forward to further action on better labelling and an early decision on the creation of a Supermarket Ombudsman to provide real and practical support to food producers."