Cameron highlights need for food security

David Cameron gave a big speech to the National Farmers Union today, which is celebrating its centenary this year. Here are the key points:

Cameron's personal interest: "I’m a member [of the NFU] myself. I care passionately about the countryside. I was brought up in it. I’ve spent much of my life in it. And now, I represent a rural constituency in Parliament."

British farming has a future: "I want to see a living, working countryside - not a museum. For me, there is no more vital an industry than the production of our food. It’s vital for our health, our culture and our economy. Our country depends on a strong agricultural industry to provide rural jobs, to look after the land and produce our food … so I say enough of the pessimism, enough of the idea that British farming has had its time."

The vital issue of food security: "This issue is barely on the national radar... Some analysts are beginning to make some very worrying, very stark predictions... And these analysts say that politicians should start to rank the issue of food security along side energy security and even national security... The current Government has said that domestic production is neither a necessary nor sufficient condition for food security."

Meat and biofuels replacing wheat: "These three factors – diet change, climate change, crop change – are contributing right now to global food crunch. Grain stocks are at their lowest level for thirty years with food prices actually rising by six percent in the UK last year. And these factors will continue to make that global food crunch worse in the years to come."

EU market needs to be free: "We must complete the decoupling of production from central agricultural subsidies right across the EU. Production subsidies have – rightly – ended for British farmers. They must now be ended for those in the whole of Europe.

Level regulation playing field: "We must create a level playing field with our foreign competitors when it comes to regulation. Our government often imposes far more onerous standards on British agriculture than exist elsewhere in the EU.  This can have perverse consequences – i nstead of driving standards up we sometimes drive farmers out of business."

Reconnecting farmers with consumers: "The loyalty, trust and sentiment on which your relationship [with consumers] was once based had little place in the world of commoditised food. In your place stepped in the supermarket, offering the consumer what they needed – ease and practicality. This has had a profound affect on your profits – and your ability to reinvest in the rural economy and in agriculture."

British labelling: "The Conservatives are committed to introducing rigorous and transparent food labelling. Today, one in five British consumers would prefer to back British farmers and to buy British food. But they find it difficult, because of inadequate food labelling. Food can be imported to Britain, processed here, and then labelled in a way that suggests its genuinely British."

Conservative co-op movement coming soon: "Food Co-Operatives support provide good affordable food and breathe life into the relationships that bind society together. Most importantly though, when it comes to our food security, they support local growers and encourage a healthy, local food economy."

21/2: There is now a webcameron video of David Cameron's NFU remarks.

Comments

[Tony Makara]

"British consumers would prefer to back British farmers and to buy British food. But they find it difficult"

All so very true. I try to buy British where possible but struggle to find anything at all that is domestically produced. All British produced foods should carry a huge union flag, to let consumers know that by buying it they will be supporting our agricultural community.

[TFA Tory]

I agree with Dave and Tony. I buy British as often as possible (including clothes, cars and hifi) even if it costs a bit more. Sadly, most British wines are over-priced and not value for money.

[Tanuki]

Sadly, most British wines are over-priced and not value for money.

Agreed. I can only hope that once 'global warming' kicks in we'll once again be able to grow some of the more interesting vine-varieties in England. I'm waiting for the 'climate change scientists' to tell me just what grapes will best suit my south-facing slopes.

[TFA Tory]

LOL! I loved that politically incorrect post from Tanuki. The Romans grew vines and made wine as far north as Newcastle. No man made global warming back then!

[Iain]

Its all about population, population, population, trouble is no one in the Westminster village can or is prepared to comprehend this basic fact, probably because the parties of the left waxing lyrical about mass immigration ( the driver of our population growth ) and the Conservatives have been sworn into a vow of silence on the issue. Result on this, housing supply, energy, public services availability, transport, the Westminster village is an irrelevance, for what’s the point of worrying about our carbon foot print, food supplies or anything else when the British state is adding in excess of 250,000 people to our population every year.

[anthony scholefield]

Agricultural policy is totally an EU competence.

[anthony scholefield]

Agricultural policy is totally an EU competence.

[TFA Tory]

The CAP is an EU incompetence.

[Man in a Shed]

Food security is vital. Sudden catastrophe is always possible, and it will be every nation for themselves when it happens. ( It has happened before with large volcanic eruptions in Iceland ).

The problem is we struggled to feed our smaller population 60 years ago.

Does anyone want to speculate what society would look like after the super market shelves have been empty for a week ?

Its a cheap thing to put right now... Cameron should ask about the size of emergency food stores in the UK. We need at least 1.5 years for 60 million people.

[DougR]

The CAP is a subsidy for fat people. Food security is just an excuse for being a tortoise. Shame I can't vote for a party that advocates less aid and less agri-subsidies and would allow more imported food together with lower taxes.

[Diablo]

It's great that David Cameron is adding this issue to the longer and longer list of policy areas that the Conservatives will address head on when they win the next election - as I suggested some months ago (http://devilinthedetail.blogspot.com/2007/09/are-you-starving.html)

This is an issue that people will really connect with and, as long as Cameron can show that he has a strategy to bring the EU into line, then it will capture those floating voters who need some inspiration to vote Conservative.

[Iain]

"and would allow more imported food together with lower taxes."

With a world population heading to 10-12 billion there is going to precious little food on sale around the world that we will be able to import.

[Malcolm Dunn]

It is a shame that all food is not labelled with country of origin. I always try and buy British in all things if I can but that can be very difficult at times if it's not labelled.
Totally agree with posters about British wine,very difficult to find anything good and impossible to find anything good at a decent price. Did once share a pretty good bottle with the esteemed Editor of this site at one of the Commons resturants but I bet it's not available to the general public.

[Cllr Alexa Michael]

I agree entirely with supporting British growers and producers. The countryside must remain a living, working place - it is worrying how few farm animals you see grazing in the fields now. What about eating fruit and vegetables 'in season'? We can have lovely root vegetables like carrots, swede, turnip and parsnip during the winter months.

[Mark B]

Self-sufficiency would be economic cretinism, as if Adam Smith and David Ricardo had never put pen to paper.

Global food production has outstripped population growth by about 50% in the last 50 years, so there's little chance of a food shortage - and we have barely started to see the potential of GM (which the Americans and the Canadians have been cheerfully eating for more than a decade).

Price distortion because of subsidies for bio-fuels and subsidies to farmers is another matter.

A green and pleasant land is lovely but please don't pretend there's an economic argument for it.