Today sees the launch of A People’s Food Policy – a ground-breaking manifesto outlining a people’s vision of food and farming in England that is supported by over 80 food and farming organisations including the UK Food Group. The report draws on 18 months of extensive, nation-wide consultations with grassroots organisations, NGOs, trade unions, community projects, small businesses and individuals. It has resulted in a set of policy proposals and a vision for change that is rooted in the lived experiences and needs of people most affected by the failures in the current food system. Agriculture is one of the sectors that will face high uncertainty as a result of the UK leaving the European Union.
Dee Butterly, the co-ordinator of this initiative, young tenant farmer and member of the Landworkers’ Alliance said: “The lack of a coherent, joined-up food policy framework in England is becoming increasingly problematic. In this country we have shameful levels of food insecurity, with food bank usage rising year on year, and an estimated over eight million people now in a state of such financial precarity they can’t afford to eat”. The extensive report covers governance, food production, health, land, labour, environment, knowledge and skills, trade and finance-each with an in depth analysis and policy proposals for transforming the food systems in England.
Download a copy of the report at: