'Put farmers in driving seat' in transition to sustainable UK food system

The Food, Farming & Countryside Commission (FFCC), set-up by the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), today (July 16) sets out a ’blueprint’ for the UK’s food, farming and countryside system.

It warns that the Government must act now to help food and farming cope with climate change, and calls for its plan to be embedded across rural policies, putting the countryside at the centre of the green economy.

The commission, which is led by Barclay’s UK chairman Sir Ian Cheshire alongside senior figures across the industry and civil society, warned:

"The UK will see further climate breakdown and ‘rocketing’ diet-related ill-health unless it completely transitions to a sustainable and healthy food system by 2030."

The report, ’Our Future in the Land’, proposes a 10-year transition plan to agro-ecological farming by 2030, and calls for:

• The Government to stop delaying policy and trade decisions and commit to a future-proofed transition plan to agro-ecology by January 2020.

• Increased commitments from public bodies to buy more sustainably produced British and local produce for schools, hospitals and prisons.

• For retailers and processors to do more to offer fair and secure contracts to farmers and growers, supporting co-ops for smaller producers to work together.

• The Government to coordinate policy efforts which support investment in infrastructure, skills and new enterprise.

• To change how the countryside is funded, by tying this to public value, and a ‘national land use framework’.

• A National Agro-ecology Development Bank (NADB) to bring together long-term investors to fund farmers to transition. 

• Using young people’s enthusiasm for tackling sustainability issues through a ‘National Nature Service’ for 18-25-year-olds.

“Our planned exit from the EU creates a once-in-50-years opportunity to change our food and farming system,” said Sir Ian Cheshire.

"But we need to act now: whatever happens next, the climate emergency makes urgent, radical action on the environment essential.

“We could make radical change and harness farming as a force for wider economic, public health and environmental good. We offer Government our shared vision which changes our countryside and rural economy and puts farmers in the driving seat.”