Defra has celebrated the lifting of a ban on British beef and lamb, introduced in Russia over concerns about BSE, claiming the decision by Russian authorities as "another export success." Government food policy, which is focused on helping exporters find lucrative developing markets, has been criticised as unsustainable.   

The government believes the new export trade to Russia could be worth £80 million to the British food industry over the next three years. Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said on Friday (23rd November), "British food is recognised around the world for using quality ingredients, for rigorous production standards, and for reliable traceability. This deal is further evidence of international confidence in what British producers have to offer.

"Our food exports are booming, recently topping £18bn a year, and this Government is doing all it can to open up markets abroad."

Defra said it has not yet received written confirmation from Russia, but that this is expected within the "next few days." The British negotiation delegation to Russia was headed by the Defra's chief veterinary officer Nigel Gibbens.

Food and farming is worth £89 billion to the UK economy and employs 3.5 million people. Last year UK food and drink exports increased by 9 per cent to £18.2bn, marking the seventh consecutive year of record growth.

Although the government's food policy revolves around its "ongoing commitment to help UK entrepreneurs," find export markets for resource-intensive food such as meat, chocolate and alcohol, there is concern that food insecure people in Britain are being forgotten in the rush to corner export markets.

At the beginning of the month, Defra chief Owen Paterson’s trade mission to China, during which the Environment Secretary promoted beef, cheese and chocolate produced by firms from the UK to importers in China, coincided with news that the number of food insecure people in the UK has doubled in the past six months alone.

The UK's largest organiser of food banks, the Trussell Trust, announced last month that 110,000 people were referred for emergency food aid by the police, Job Centre staff, social workers or doctors. The Trust expects this to rise to 200,000 over the next few months.

In August, Tim Lang, a food policy expert at London’s City University, 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."

Professor Lang's work focuses on social justice and environmental sustainability; he also developed the concept of 'food miles,' now a household term. Commenting on current government policy, he said, "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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