Analisis alimentos

Food Matters
Towards a Strategy for the 21st Century
The Strategy Unit July 2008

Making government work better

Contents
Foreword by the Prime Minister Executive summary 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Introduction Trends and challenges Future food policy: vision, strategic priorities and approach Supporting the consumer Engaging the supply chain Leadership, food and the public sector Delivering theGovernment’s vision i iii 1 8 36 49 67 95 111 122 123

Annex A – Project staffing Annex B – Acknowledgements

‘Food: (n) something that people and animals eat, or plants absorb, to keep them alive.’ Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

‘There is no love sincerer than the love of food.’ George Bernard Shaw. ‘Man and Superman’

‘The destiny of nations depends on the manner in which theyfeed themselves.’ Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin. ‘The Physiology of Taste’

Foreword by the Prime Minister
The rise of popular interest in food policy issues, and growing public awareness that what we choose to eat impacts on everything from animal welfare to our health and the protection of the environment, has led to massive transformation in Britain’s food culture over the past 10 years. Thiscultural change, along with more recent events in global food markets, has brought new and urgent policy challenges to the fore, which governments must act to meet. To ensure that the UK’s food policy framework could meet these new challenges, in September 2007 I commissioned the Strategy Unit to examine our approach to food policy right across the board. This report sets out the conclusions ofthat work, providing an overarching statement of government food policy that sets a benchmark for the action we must take – both in the UK and globally – to ensure our long-term food security, the sustainability of food production and consumption, and the promotion of public health. Recent food price rises are a powerful reminder that access to ever more affordable food cannot be taken for granted,and it is the family finances of the poorest in our society that are hit hardest when food prices increase. But the principal food security challenge for the UK is a global one. We cannot deal with higher food prices in the UK in isolation from higher prices around the world – attempting to pursue national food security in isolation from the global context is unlikely to be practicable,sustainable or financially rational. So to tackle higher prices both here in Britain and in developing countries, where food often accounts for more than half of a family’s spending, we will continue to play a leading role in combating instability in commodity markets and building a more resilient global food chain, as well as maintaining a supportive environment for competitive UK food producers. If foodproduction in Africa and elsewhere in the developing world reached its potential, global food output would be much higher, far fewer people would go hungry and the threat of food-related political and social instability around the world would recede. As well as the need to address this rise in prices, we must also do more to safeguard the health of both our nation and our environment. It is nowclear that diet is one of the leading causes of ill-health in our society, with our current patterns of food consumption leading to thousands of early deaths each year. We also need to take measures to lessen the environmental impact of the food that we eat, producing more food with fewer resources and fewer greenhouse gas emissions. And with the average household throwing away food worth hundreds ofpounds each year, there is a clear opportunity both to save money and to cut back on waste. This report has benefited from the support and advice of many organisations and individuals across the country – and I particularly welcome its proposals for ensuring that the Government’s food policies are developed in a more coordinated way in future. But it is just a start. We can set the right...