Food Security

The Secretary of State has said that the"““poorest can't get enough food””." He is right, but failing in the UK makes that problem worse in the rest of the world. He moved from the previous DEFRA position, and we welcome that U-turn. He is a nice chap; he waves his arms around in an inclusive way and I have a soft spot for people with political parents, but he is wrong about food security being an unknown in the future. He never offered solutions on animal health and welfare, deregulation, gold-plating or, worst of all, public procurement, so without leadership on the issue food security will be a problem in the future. The hon. Member for Brecon and Radnorshire (Mr. Williams) is a member of the Select Committee, but he failed to mention TB. Perhaps he should go away and read the Committee's report. He did mention our own farmers with pride. In this year, the 100th anniversary of the National Farmers Union, I can completely agree with him that we owe farmers a great debt of gratitude and we should be extremely proud of the industry. The hon. Member for Norwich, North (Dr. Gibson) made a very interesting scientific speech, which I enjoyed—he spoke of such matters as the invention of fertiliser—but it might have come across better as a PowerPoint presentation. It was very technical. My right hon. Friend the Member for Fylde (Mr. Jack) talked about his allotment. I cannot resist pulling his leg: I know he is an expert on all agricultural matters, but he did tell the House that he was talking to his slugs and snails, which made me chuckle. He also talked about the horticulture industry and melting leeks, the limits of climate change, and—most important—the world food summit. I listened carefully and with enjoyment to what he said about the President of Madagascar's speech, about the fact that we talk about improving agriculture but do not actually do it, about the way in which countries can help themselves if they are allowed to, and, of course, about the endless demand for a level playing field. I know that my constituents will be sad to learn that DEFRA was not represented at the conference, as I think they would rather it was abroad than at home. The hon. Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew) described himself as the anti-science Member, which worried me somewhat. He also told us that we had abused food—I was not sure what he meant—and talked about things being ““in the round””, from which I assume that he had eaten what he should not have eaten. He talked about school food and nutritional education, which I agree is an important subject—as is Washington state's support for local production. I believe that if we address ourselves to local procurement, we can make a huge impact and send out all the right signals. I agree with the hon. Gentleman that the present position is a disgrace. The speech that I considered most powerful was made by my hon. Friend the Member for Newbury (Mr. Benyon), who knew exactly what he was talking about. He spoke of opportunity, understanding agriculture and the undervaluation of the dairy farmer. I think we all agree with that. He talked with great sadness of how he was being driven out of dairy farming by the nitrate vulnerable zone regulations, and I too thought that that was deeply sad. He also talked about the single farm payment, the nationalisation of the use of land and, of course, his own award-winning role as a conservationist. It was an extremely helpful and powerful speech, and it was sad that my hon. Friend could not continue for longer. It was really good to hear about an experience of that kind. I hoped that what he said about raptor breeding in Scotland related to golden eagles, but I suspect that it involved a lesser species. My hon. Friend the Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Daniel Kawczynski) talked of the crisis in agriculture, and mentioned his constituent Chris Balmer. No one should miss the chance to emphasise the importance of what our constituents are suffering as a result of TB and rural payments. My hon. Friend spoke passionately about the dairy farming sector, of which he is a strong advocate, and about the number of cows being culled because they have TB. I do not think anyone has been left in any doubt that global food supplies and prices matter, because we live in an uncertain world in which global demand for food is rising and supplies are under pressure. The cost of the basics—wheat, rice and other cereals—is rising, and the increasing cost of fertiliser, energy and fuel is making food more expensive to produce and buy. Consumers are facing record food prices, while farmers and food producers are being squeezed because the increasing food production overheads are forcing up the costs of bringing food from farm to fork. We can no longer take it for granted that plenty of food will be available at low prices. In the last year alone, prices paid by consumers for food have risen dramatically. Butter and eggs are up by more than a third, bread by more than a quarter, flour by more than one fifth, and milk and cheese by one sixth. Regulation has placed an enormous burden on our farmers, costing the industry £500 million a year. The Government have already cost the industry more than £20 million in lost interest alone, and face a potential £300 million fine from the EU for failing to deliver the single farm payment on time. They believe that if British consumers have access to food, the food security issue is resolved, but at this time our country cannot continue to rely on an increasing supply of food imports. There are steps that the Government should be taking to improve domestic food production. Food procurement is the key. The Government have tremendous resources at their disposal to back British production through the £2 billion budget for public procurement, but with just 5 per cent. of British fruit being served in the NHS and our armed forces being fed with lamb that is just 13 per cent. British, it is clear that the public sector could do more to support local food production, or at least take steps towards a system whereby food that is publicly procured is produced to standards that are acceptable in Britain so that our producers can compete. Red tape is another crucial issue, and the Government fail to understand it. They must end gold-plating, and they can start by listening to farmers telling them about the impacts of the nitrates directive, which will cost farmers on average about £11,000 each, as well as the shift from risk to hazard-based pesticides, which will have a disproportionate effect on yields, and welfare standards and labelling. Happily, British consumers want to buy British, as they recognise the higher welfare standards to which our livestock is produced. The public demand those standards and our farmers deliver them, but meat cheaply imported and then sold as British—sometimes labelled as British because it is processed here—is all too often produced in conditions that fall well below the standards we would find legally and morally acceptable. This greatly disadvantages our own domestic food producers, and to counteract that the Government should be pressing the EU and the WTO to raise standards around the world. Then British producers could out-compete as standards rise, rather than see animal welfare dragged down by price to the lowest common denominator. The Government should also establish a better and more honest system of food labelling.