The Environmental Audit Committee, which examines government policy on sustainability and environmental protection, yesterday released its report on sustainable food in which it criticises the government’s stance on genetically modified food and questions its commitment to ensuring healthy, sustainable eating.

The Committee advised that government food policy needs a more cohesive approach, and urged for health, education and environmental considerations to be linked up to promote responsible attitudes to food.

MPs on the Environmental Audit Committee, a select committee that examines pan-governmental performance, rather than focusing on a single department, outlined the unsustainable nature of current food production in the UK and around the world. They explained that, as climate change, falling biodiversity and soil fertility, rising populations and pollution are all impacting on food production, there is a pressing need for governments all over the world to adopt food policies which will provide radical overhauls in the way food is produced and consumed.  

The committee’s findings are intended to help government policy makers improve the sustainability and social accountability of food production and distribution ahead of the Rio +20 debate next month.

According to the MPs’ report, “Agriculture will have to adapt to increasingly variable and unpredictable growing conditions including increased incidence of floods and droughts, increased temperatures, and different patterns in the occurrence of weeds, pests, and diseases.”

They said that, in order to cope with and mitigate the effects of these issues, emissions from agriculture must be reduced, which “might require farmers and other food producers to re-acquire lost skills,” and the agriculture sector must play a part in producing renewable energy.

MPs criticise lack of effective food policy

Following similar criticisms from a number of food policy experts, the committee of MPs lambasted the narrow focus on increasing yields as "damaging the environment and society" and said "The Government needs to make sure this does not happen."  Such a focus has been adopted by a number of farming groups, though food policy experts have said food policy requires more of a social and environmental approach, considering the problems facing global supply webs.

As wildlife and habitats have declined dramatically across Britain in recent years, the committee said that this must be taken into account in policy decisions, arguing that food production would be "more likely to be sustainable if food reflects value or cost of the environmental impacts of producing it." The MPs recommended improving research into boosting soil health and agroecological production methods to achieve this.

The report’s authors also provided a frank review of the government position on genetically modified foods. Citing Dr Wallace of Gene Watch, who said, “One of the big problems with the [GM] industry is the extent to which it can undermine some of the social and economic systems that are in place at the moment,” the committee members stated that, contrary to the claims of the biotechnology lobby, food shortages could often “be addressed through other means.”

Though they pledged overall support for GM as having the potential to contribute to food security, the committee members criticised its treatment as a 'magic bullet' and suggested the government conduct more research into the potential effects of GM crops on the environment and producers in other sectors. They also said government should heed consumers, amongst whom there is currently a general rejection of GM. Joan Walley, the committee’s chair, asserted that, “Until there is clear public acceptance of GM and it is proven to be beneficial, the Government should not license its commercial use in the UK nor promote its use overseas.”

Government must lead change in attitudes

The MP rapporteurs stated that, in order to attain a more sustainable and healthy food system in the UK, the government should introduce growing and cooking lessons into the national curriculum, advertising of junk food should be subject to stricter limitations and the Office of Fair Trading’s remit should be amended to encourage cooperation on sustainability initiatives.  

They said that, although Defra’s forthcoming Green Food Project, due for release later in the year, would go some way towards addressing the issues their report raises, a much more fundamental change is needed.

A Defra spokesperson attempted to defend the department from the committee’s flak; she said Defra spends £400 million annually on research and reiterated that the department will soon publish its Green Food Project, which aims to promote ‘sustainable intensification’, or producing more food whilst reducing impact on the environment.

Nevertheless, the committee proposed dramatic changes to government policy, focusing largely on providing social and environmental benefits. These include ensuring communities have adequate resources to learn about healthy food and space to grow their own produce. The MPs also suggested  the government set an example by introducing welfare and sustainability targets to food supplied to its departments, prisons, hospitals and schools, ensuring all local councils are able to offer food waste collection to support energy produced from anaerobic digestion and introducing clear food labelling based on sustainability.

Joan Walley MP concluded, “Our food system is failing. Obesity and diet-related illness is on the increase, fewer young people are being taught how to cook or grow food, and advertisers are targeting kids with junk food ads on the internet. At the same time, the world faces growing fears about food security as the global population increases, more people eat meat and dairy, and the climate destabilises as a result of forest destruction and fossil fuel use.
 

“The government is understandably sceptical about anything that seems like nanny-statism, but the evidence is clear – intervention is needed to tackle obesity and fix our food system. In many cases, reducing environmental impacts and getting people to eat more healthily can be achieved in tandem.”

The full report can be read here

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