Boris Johnson’s new food strategy for England contains virtually no new measures to tackle rising food prices, children’s hunger, obesity or climate emergencies, according to an expired version of the White Paper.
The strategy, seen by the Guardian and due to be published on Monday, was to be an innovative response to the recommendations of restaurateur Henry Dimbleby, who wrote two government-commissioned reports on obesity and the environment.
Dimbleby has made a number of high-profile proposals, including expanding free school meals, raising environmental and welfare standards in agriculture, and reducing meat and dairy consumption by 30%.
But the thin 27-page document makes few recommendations and refuses to address the contribution of food prices to the cost of living crisis or respond to calls for less meat and dairy products.
Among his few policy proposals are a proposal to increase fish farming, which is controversial for the environment, and to increase the use of “responsibly harvested wild venison”.
The strategy was described as “bordering on absurd” by Labor because of the lack of concrete food price proposals and “worse than half-baked” by the Greenpeace environmental campaign group.
Johnson recently postponed measures to tackle obesity and has been criticized for failing to help families with the cost of living at 10 percent inflation.
Although the White Paper acknowledges that food prices are a major part of the tensions facing many families, and that many low-income people are struggling to afford to eat, it suggests that this is not a state food strategy business. .
Instead, the White Paper focuses on “long-term measures” to support the food system, not “duplicating work at the cost of living” – citing the Treasury’s 15 billion pound support package focused on reducing bills for energy. He avoids growing calls from teachers and others to extend free school meals to an additional 1 million children in poverty, although he says the idea will be “kept under control”.
He boasted that it made it easier for young low-income families to apply for and use the Healthy Home Fruit and Vegetable Voucher Scheme – although he ignored Dimbleby’s criticism of the inadequacy of the scheme, urging it to be expanded and ignoring it. recent problems with the digital part of the circuit.
“The government is committed to a sustainable, long-term approach to tackling poverty and supporting lower-income people by helping them enter and advance in their jobs and live full lives,” it said.
The White Paper also ignores Dimbleby’s proposals for a tax on sugar and salt used in processed foods as a way to avoid what he called the “junk food cycle.” Dimbleby insisted that bold regulatory measures, instead of relying on consumer education and voluntary agreements with the food industry, are needed to tackle the huge and growing market for junk food.
But while the White Paper acknowledges that obesity is prevalent, with 64% of adults and 40% of children being overweight, it makes it clear that there is little desire for government intervention and insists on the importance of individual responsibility and choice for influencing the demand for healthy foods.
Experts also called on the government to reduce the consumption of meat and dairy products in order to improve land use and cope with the climate emergency. Dimbleby called for a 30% reduction, and Greenpeace – a more ambitious 70%. In his summary, Dimbleby said: “Careful animal husbandry can be good for the environment, but our current appetite for meat is unsustainable: 85% of agricultural land is used to feed livestock. We need some of this land back. “
However, the government has not made such a commitment, instead launching a consultation on new technologies to help livestock produce less methane. It also focuses on renewable livestock farming, which uses more land than intensive farming to produce less protein.
It states: “Sustainable sources of protein must not be new or new or displace traditional sectors. Regenerative agriculture will also ensure more sustainable production of traditional sources of protein. The use of livestock for the benefit of the environment in balance with food production is already supported by many small farmers. “
A new statement in the White Paper is on animal welfare. Ministers plan to make it easier for countries to trade with the UK if they have strong animal welfare legislation.
The report also mentions expanding aquaculture – fish farming – to potentially replace some of the meat in the diet. This is despite the fact that fish farming is often very harmful to the environment.
Deer stalkers will also benefit from the report, as one of the few new announcements it makes is that the government “will look to increase the use of responsibly harvested wild deer meat that would otherwise be thrown away in the food chain”. .
Environmental experts who joined the strategy said it was “worse than they expected” – and they did not have high expectations.
There are also concerns that the report signals the dilution of the environmental management scheme (ELMS), as there are no mentioned targets for land use change.
Jim McMahon, the shadow environment secretary, was highly critical of the strategy. “The United Kingdom is in a crisis of living costs with food prices rising, real wages falling, growth falling and taxes rising. It is now clear that the government has absolutely no ambition to fix the mess they have created, “he said.
“The food strategy is vital, but the government is hesitant, slowing down and now failing. This is nothing more than a statement of unclear intentions, not concrete proposals to address the main problems facing our country. Calling it a food strategy borders on the absurd. “
Tim Farren, a spokesman for the Liberal Democrats on the environment, food and rural areas, added: “The Conservative food strategy has no solution to the cost of living crisis and nothing for the millions of people struggling to put food on the table.
“By doing nothing to help farmers across the country, the government guarantees only one generation of higher food prices.
Louisa Casson, Head of Food and Forestry at Greenpeace UK, said: “The government’s food strategy is not just half-baked, it’s flatter than a pancake and lacks most of the important ingredients needed to truly ensure our long-term food security. Instead of listening to warnings from climate scientists about the urgent need to reduce meat production, ministers seem to be urging British farmers to produce even more.
Ben Reynolds, deputy chief executive of the Sustain Food and Agriculture Charity, added: “Our understanding is that the White Paper on Government Food Strategy will recognize the many challenges facing our food system, but there will be no strong ones. policies backed by legislation needed to make a big change.
“Dimbleby’s review generates considerable understanding and an appetite for change. Health activists, businesses, food businesses and investors have called for government intervention to help prevent health, climate and natural crises caused by our food system. We would welcome any mandatory responsibilities for industry and the public sector that help healthy and sustainable diets become the norm, but if the government publishes a white paper with little more than overheated engagements, consultations and reviews, it will just kick the box further down the road. ”
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