The latest facet of the government’s food export drive last week saw food and drink producers from across Great Britain showcasing a range of products to international media representatives. Timed to coincide with the London Olympics, producers displayed “award-winning English wines, high quality Welsh and English beef, pork and lamb, Scottish whisky and Northern Ireland seafood” to international journalists at an event in London.

The Great British Food event, which was held on Friday at the Ofgem Atrium, showcased organic produce from Prince Charles’ Duchy Originals range, whisky from Scotland and Northern Ireland and local specialities including Melton Mowbray pork pies to Cornish clotted cream

The food and drink sector is the UK’s number one employer; the sector generates £76.2 billion, 16 per cent of the country’s entire manufacturing revenue. The government has stepped up promotion of the food sector, stating this will drive growth and revitalise the rural economy. In so doing, ministers have embarked upon trade missions and money has been made available for food and farming businesses in rural regions.

As a number of food policy commentators have said, food and drink connects people with the natural environment and illustrates their relationships with one another and wider society. However, they maintain that, as such, there is a responsibility to ensure the food produced and consumed in Britain is done so in a socially and environmentally acceptable manner.  

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Although Defra ministers have said “stringent health standards, quality local produce, and willingness to embrace international cuisines” all contribute the “made in Britain brand” relentlessly pushed by the department since the beginning of the year, other commentators suggest that the promotion of meat, dairy and alcohol is irresponsible at a time when the focus of food policy should be on promoting environmentally sustainability and equitable diets.

Speaking at last week’s food event, Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman said, “The Olympics has showcased Britain at its best – and that includes our food and drink, which is winning a deserved reputation for quality and variety. Such demand is important, because the food and drink industry is the single largest part of Britain’s manufacturing base. Its health and vitality are critical to this country’s economic growth.”

The government’s export message was repeated by James Withers, Chief Executive of Scotland Food & Drink, in the wake of Friday’s event. He said, “Scotland’s reputation as a Land of Food and Drink is growing rapidly with whisky exports up 50 per cent and food exports up a staggering 62 per cent over the last four years. The opportunity to showcase Scotland’s food in London during the Olympics has been fantastic and will ensure the momentum of the last few years continues.”

However, the event’s intended purpose of increasing exports of resource-dense foods to ‘emerging economies’ was not without criticism. Tim Lang, former hill farmer and professor of food policy at City University, London, who has previously suggested the government shift the focus of the current drive, said Defra risks repeating the mistakes of ‘Food From Britain’ initiative, which lost funding in 2008.

Professor Lang has called on the government to commit to a cohesive food policy, which would help work towards a “decarbonised, water reduced, socially just food system.” He has criticised as naïve and short sighted the drive to export resource-intensive, luxury food items at a time when governments and policy makers should be focusing on achieving international food security.

The professor told Farming Online, “For decades, there has been a fantasy within government that more exports will be a panacea for the massive food trade gap. While appreciating the hard work of and by exporters, the financial drain the trade gap continues to make will only be addressed if more food is grown more sustainably and consumed here.”

He added, “Basically, the UK’s food system is unduly parasitic on the planet and other countries’ land and labour. We need to shift to an ecologically sound food policy. This is not happening. A few niche products is not the same thing as a sustainable food system. Alas, business logic still pursues cheapness above all other criteria. This is folly. It’s partly why the UK’s food footprint is so lamentably high.”

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