Co-ordinated action needed for food chain sustainability
Collaboration between government, the food industry, pressure groups and consumers is necessary if a workable and sustainable food chain is to become a reality, according to Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City University London.
It is no longer good enough for these groups to work in isolation, Lang said last Thursday in a lecture titled Food security or food democracy? Awkward questions in food policy, organised by the Pesticide Action Network UK.
“The long struggle for food democracy must not get submerged by the urgency of the new environmental and societal pressures,” said Lang. “We are seeing the end of untrammelled choice as a policy goal. No food packet is large enough to give consumers all the information they need for truly informed choices about the sustainability of the food they buy.”
Such co-ordinated action as advocated by Lang could be central to the strategy objectives of the new Food Chain Programme being launched by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Although how this programme fits in with a new food study that prime minister Gordon Brown’s No. 10 policy unit is said to be considering setting up, remains to be seen.
While acknowledging the strides made by some retailers to reduce pesticide use, Lang also argued against leaving it to the private sector to set standards.
Lang called on governments to be more proactive in "creating the intellectual space for new ecological thinking"
"I think the supply chain needs better overall goal-setting," he said. "Why couldn't both governments and private systems such as GlobalGAP [the global partnership for good agricultural practice] aim to reduce pesticide use by half in 10 years as suggested by the European Parliament's Environment Committee in 2007? And could not assurance schemes like the UK's 'Red Tractor' be widened to cover more sustainable goals?"
