My Lords, there are two amendments in this group in my name, Amendments 160 and 173. Amendment 160 chimes with the amendments of several other noble Lords in calling for the food security report to Parliament, set out in the Bill, to be published within 12 months and every three years thereafter. We welcome the fact that the need for such a report has been acknowledged by the Government, but we want it to be more urgent and ambitious.
There was an excellent debate on this issue in May, initiated by the noble Baroness, Lady Boycott, which highlighted the challenges within our food supply, and food security, all too clearly. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought the shortcomings in our current system even more to the fore. While most farmers, food manufacturers and retailers responded magnificently to the challenge of feeding the nation in a lockdown, the incidence of empty shelves, combined with the economic impact, resulting in many being unable to feed their families, was all too stark. The recent report from the Food Foundation evidenced nearly 5 million people experiencing food insecurity, including 2 million children being forced to skip meals.
The crisis identified the personal and economic hardship of food insecurity, but it also highlighted the fundamental problems with our national supply chain. The UK is currently only 53% self-sufficient in food and drink, and the figure is dropping year on year. Nearly half our food is imported, mainly from the EU. During the pandemic, we were forced to rely on fruit and vegetable trucks continuing to make the journey across Europe. Those UK farmers producing fresh fruit and vegetables faced a crisis of seasonal workers, and it is still not clear whether sufficient UK workers have been recruited and retained to harvest our local produce, or whether some of the crops will have to be left to rot in the fields.
We believe there is an urgent need to drive up the percentage of locally grown food in the UK. We believe we should take steps to make that supply more resilient and reliable, particularly as we face the consequences of leaving the EU. This will not happen without a government strategy driving the policy forward. That is why our amendment would bring the date of publication forward, so that more ambitious change can occur and be reviewed on a timely basis.
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The timing of our amendment also coincided with the publication of the excellent Lords Select Committee report Hungry for Change: Fixing the Failures in Food. This is a well-evidenced piece of work that addresses the relationship between poor diet, ill health and food insecurity. It identifies the commercial pressures that lead to unhealthy food choices, it highlights the role that better public procurement could play, and it recommends a fundamental shift in national consumption patterns towards a more plant-based, balanced diet. I know that some members of that committee may want to speak on this group and say more about the breadth and depth of its recommendations, but all these recommendations require serious attention, and some of them can be addressed by these amendments.
This leads on to our other amendment in this group, Amendment 173. This calls for the establishment of a national food plan within six months. It would build on the work being carried out by Henry Dimbleby for the Government on a national food strategy. His food strategy will encompass being based on a sustainable agricultural sector, delivering safe, healthy, affordable food through a more robust supply chain, contributing to the natural environment, and supporting innovation among producers and manufacturers. It will set out a vision for the future. He is due to publish the first part of his report later this month. His work on a national food strategy is complemented by the Lords committee report, which says:
“It provides a much-needed opportunity to initiate a strategic, joined-up approach to food policy … We recommend the establishment of an independent body, analogous to the Committee on Climate Change, with responsibility for strategic oversight of the implementation of the National Food Strategy … This independent body should have the power to advise the Government and report to Parliament on progress.”
Although our Amendment 173 was drafted before the Lords report was published, I believe we are saying the same thing. It picks up on the themes of the Lords report and the Dimbleby report and sets out a series of steps that the Government must take to deliver the national food plan. I hope noble Lords will consider this proposal seriously and recognise the importance of linking agriculture and food production with our wider health and food security goals. I beg to move.