Curry calls on processors to help connect consumers to British food

Sir Don Curry, chairman of the government’s Sustainable Farming and Food Delivery Group, has called on food processors to do more to help educate the public - and children in particular - about where their food comes from and the big impact their purchasing decisions could have on the future of UK countryside.

Speaking at a conference last week in London organised by English Farming & Food Partnerships, Curry highlighted the involvement of the National Farmers’ Union, retailers and foodservice outlets in the Year of Farming and Food. But he lamented the absence of food processors. “We would like more processors involved,” said Curry. “We are on the case.”

Describing the purpose behind the Year of Farming and Food, a farming industry led initiative that kicked off in September, Curry said: “We have to really communicate to consumers the importance of the decisions they make when they go shopping.”

It is an issue recognised by Waitrose md Mark Price, who said: “Retailers have a responsibility to educate consumers about the real state of farming today and to encourage them to buy British where they can.” But a note of caution was added by Andrew Cooksey, chief executive of farmer controlled business Dairy Farmers of Britain, who said: “Consumers want to support their local farmers, but it is not a God-given right.”

The Year of Farming and Food initiative has three main elements: getting children to visit farms; getting them to grow their own food; and teaching them how to cook.

Curry, who chaired the government’s Policy Commission on Farming and Food whose report published in 2002 contained various proposals aimed at ensuring a sustainable UK food chain, said that while most of its recommendations had been implemented he was “frustrated” that it had not yet been possible to reconnect the British public with where its food came from.

He also called for action on country of origin labeling and a cull of many quality labels and symbols, which he claimed had “proliferated” in recent years.