The Soil Association has called for bolder action to get more sustainable British food into schools and hospitals in response to the government's announcement at the Oxford Farming Conference (OFC) today (Thursday 9 January).

The Soil Association has called for bolder action to get more sustainable British food into schools and hospitals in response to the government's announcement at the Oxford Farming Conference (OFC) today (Thursday 9 January).
 

Speaking at OFC, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Steve Reed will today set out the government’s long-term vision to make farming more profitable with a "cast iron commitment to food security".    He is set to announce a series of reforms, including government monitoring of the food currently bought in the public sector and where it is bought from, plus a commitment to uphold and protect British environmental and animal welfare standards in future trade deals.
 
 * Responding, Soil Association Policy Director Brendan Costelloe said * : "These commitments from government are welcome, particularly the vow to protect our farmers in trade deals as this will help create a more level playing field for nature-friendly farming. 
 
"But if the secretary of state wants to achieve his goal of long-term food security, profitability and sustainability for our farming sector, then simply monitoring for British food in public institutions will not be enough. We need mandatory standards that actively help to get more British food on the public plate, especially local fruit and veg in schools and hospitals – and we must make sure this is coming from nature-friendly farms like organic.“The proposed planning reforms will also need to be aligned with broader sustainability goals. This means putting a stop to destructive forms of food production and preventing the construction of new intensive poultry units, such as those that are destroying UK river ecosystems.
 
"The government’s forthcoming food and farming strategies need to be bold and they need to be aligned, so they can drive the kind of farming we need to protect climate and nature by creating better markets for healthy and sustainable food, and putting a stop to harmful practices.”
 
 * Conference delegates celebrate the power of British food in school meals *  
The announcement from the Secretary of State comes after around 100 people from across the farm to fork spectrum gathered for the Great School Dinner Debate last night - on the eve of OFC and the Oxford Real Farming Conference, which is held at the same time.
 
The debate brought together farmers, environmental campaigners, caterers, teachers, councillors, government advisors, and academics to enjoy a real school meal cooked by the catering team at St Ebbe’s Church of England Primary School in Oxford.
 
They enjoyed local, organic produce as part of a demonstration of the power of putting sustainable, British food into school dinners, following the example set by many Food for Life schools across the country.
 
Farmer George Bennett, who runs an organic farm at Sandy Lane Farm in South Oxfordshire, joined the panel. He supplies his produce to the Oxford Colleges via the OxFarmToFork project and he supplied his locally grown organic carrots and onions to the cooks at St Ebbe’s for the school dinner on Wednesday evening.
 
George said: “It is great to be part of the discussion and to talk about my experience of supplying fresh organic produce direct to the Oxford colleges. The OxFarmToFork scheme is a great model to show the government how it really can work by building connections between local growers, institutions, suppliers and caterers to work through the issues and barriers to local supply. We are hoping for bold ambition from the government when it addresses public procurement and its planned changes to Government Buying Standards to provide greater support organic and regenerative farming and reap the benefits for health, nature and the environment.”