6th February
In response to the government’s national security report ‘Global biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national security’ (1) Sustain responded with its reading of the urgency of the situation, making the following recommendations:-
“The Government must now look to planning, nature recovery and food and farming policy to mutually support each other to deliver the wholescale changes in diets and food production that security experts recommend. Farming policy must prioritise global ecosystem recovery, and nature and climate policy include measures to grow more foods that boost our resilience and aren’t heavily reliant on imports. Immediate actions include:
- Halting any further expansion of intensive livestock production
- Investing in projects like Bridging the Gap, and schemes like Welsh Veg in Schools, to unlock profitable supply chains that increase the production and consumption of organic fruit, vegetables and legumes
- A horticulture investment strategy that boosts commercial production of UK vegetables, beans, pulses, legumes and nuts, as well as increasing the UK market for these products
- Ending the exploitative practices of large agri-food corporations, and give farmers more power to set prices and market conditions
- Funding farmer cooperatives, networks, and mentoring schemes to scale agroecological farming through knowledge sharing, pooling resources and building collective market power “ (2)
It is frustrating that there are so many clear solutions to the crisis we face, but so little willingness on the part of the Government to enact the policies and legislation that would enable these changes to be made – because market forces won’t do this alone and many people whether farmers, retailers or consumers are trapped by unrestrained market forces.
(2) https://www.sustainweb.org/news/jan26-national-security-risk-report/
The Green Tau 