EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. As part of the Forum set up by Ministers to develop a National Food and Drink Policy a group has met to consider issues related with Food Affordability, Food Access and Food security. The group has reviewed existing evidence on these issues and has developed a series of proposals which it feels could be taken ahead in Scotland.
2. Food affordability, access and security are related issues. Without food security, individual access and affordability will be more limited. However at a personal level national food security does not guarantee either access or affordability. There is evidence that the rises in the price of food which were seen in 2008 had a major impact on the proportion of the population who can be classed as food poor. There is also evidence that food access is about issues beyond just proximity to a food store and that it is uneven across Scotland especially in our Remote Rural areas. We suggest means by which issues of these types may be addressed.
3. At the current time the UK has a robust supply chain which is currently serving many in the population well. It is based primarily on UK production, supplemented by imports from Europe. It should not however be assumed that this situation will remain unchanged in the future. In addition it is increasingly important to evaluate the supply chain in relation to its impacts on health, climate change and the functioning of communities.
4. Changing global demand and supply challenges will increase the volatility of food prices and will challenge the supply chain. Short term problems such as animal disease and interruption in the supply chain may present immediate threats to the supply of food in the UK. This requires Government to plan on the basis of the central importance and operation of food production and the supply chain.
5. The issues associated with the rise in the cost of food in 2008 suggest that prices will not return to those which characterised the last decade. The base line for food prices will be higher in the future.
6. For the past several decades food production has been subsidised by the supply of cheap energy but with implications for climate change. In the future energy supplies will be more expensive and so will food. There is thus a need to plan for a future which will be very different to the recent past.
7. Food and diet are at the heart of health and so consideration of what are the components of a healthy diet is important to defining what needs to be affordable, to what access is required and the food supplies which Scotland needs to secure.
8. Scotland has long seen it self as a nation which cares for all of its inhabitants. Ensuring that all have access to a safe, affordable and healthy balanced diet which is also sustainable and ethical is important to the achievement of our national ideals.
9. Government has rarely seen food as a locus for policy making. We suggest the need to recognise that the market mechanism alone has not been able to meet the needs of our population or to facilitate the consumption of diets which have a positive and sustainable impact on health.
10. We suggest the importance of the concept of Food Sovereignty at both national and local levels. This suggests the value of a number of food regions within Scotland and a range of local initiatives depending on individual regions geography and needs in relation to food.
11. At a national level Food Sovereignty would include an appraisal of what should be produced in Scotland and a commitment to an appropriate and significant proportion of what we eat being produced and processed in Scotland. It would also involve an assessment of the impact of our food imports on producer countries.
12. Adapting to climate change must be at the heart of food policy. Food policy must be a major vehicle for supporting the changes in both production and consumption required to meet the challenges of Global Climate Change.
13. We identify the principle issues relating to Food security as being:
a) There are major uncertainties around the availability of sufficient energy, water (particularly in the countries from which we import), land and skills to sustain current levels of food security in Scotland.
b) As a consequence of our climate and land, which limit the range of crops we can produce, the comparative advantage principle and the diversity of tastes Scotland consumes more of some types of food than it produces although changing economic conditions could make a wider range of home production viable .
c) Increased domestic production would improve our balance of payments, give a measure of protection from global market volatility, reduce our dependence on overseas suppliers, transport costs and imports and prevent the disappearance of our domestic production and processing industries.
d) Future levels of UK food self-sufficiency will be controlled by energy costs.
e) Future threats to UK food security seem more likely to come from disruptions to supply chains rather than to a lack of food although there is need to keep this under review.
14. We identify the principle issues related to food affordability as being:
a) The price of food is a major concern for many in the UK, particularly those on low incomes who feel they cannot afford to eat balanced diets.
b) The price of healthy food items is very variable between shops in Scotland, with a tendency for prices to be lower in larger shops and in areas with low levels of social and economic deprivation.
c) For many of the food poor their spending on food is the only flexible budget item which may, in times of rapidly rising process in food or energy, result in them economising by buying unhealthier food items or omitting meals.
d) Food plays a critical role in health inequalities between socio-economic groups.
e) Regional food price variations (due to use of convenience shops or higher transport costs) are critical for those on low incomes.
f) The voluntary sector plays a key role in delivering affordable food to many of the food poor.
15. We identify the principle issues relating to food access as being:
a) Retail access to healthy food is determined both by the network of stores in an area and by the stocking policy of those stores.
b) Deprived areas have a greater density of small stores with reduced in-store availability of healthy food items compared to medium and large stores.
c) There is a fall in the general quality of fruit and vegetables available in deprived areas and in small stores.
d) Large stores are less accessible to those in remote rural locations, those with disabilities and those without transport.
e) Electronic marketing and the voluntary sector will both have an increasing role in improving food access especially to the food poor and to those in rural areas.