Michael Gove promised to launch a new food strategy for Britain following Brexit, after his Agriculture Bill came under fire for not mentioning food policy.
Speaking at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, Gove claimed a Tory government would be the party to bolster Britain’s food and farming industry despite grave concerns over the effects of a no-deal Brexit.
The Defra secretary affirmed his promise to reward farmers who make a positive environmental impact, reform food labelling and also unveiled a new food redistribution plan to generate 250 million extra meals a year.
Gove said: “When we are outside the EU, we will also publish a new food strategy for Britain.We will ensure that food production is truly sustainable, replenishing the soil, using energy wisely and supporting innovation.And we will reform food labelling so that we uphold the highest animal welfare standards and give consumers the information they need to stay safe.”
One concrete policy proposal revealed by Gove was a £15million fund for surplus food redistribution in a bid to combat health inequality. The figure is a sharp rise on the £500,000 fund promised in December last year, a move aimed to keep environmental groups on side.
“Every year, millions of tonnes of good, nutritious, edible food is thrown away.This is an environmental, economic and moral folly, and we will address it,” Gove said.
“I can announce action this day to invest £15 million so that food which would otherwise be wasted is redistributed to those most in need.Working with industry and charities, we should be able to get up to 250 million extra meals a year onto the tables and plates of the most deserving in our society.”
One charity who will benefit from the scheme is FareShare. CEO Lindsay Boswell said: “We congratulate Michael Gove for responding to our call to use surplus food for social good.
“This fund means we can get so many more charities more of the food they so desperately need: fresh fruit and veg, meat, dairy and fish, by diverting food that would otherwise be wasted within the supply chain.”
Gove also announced he would be launching “a new front” in the war on waste later this year. “We will take steps to make recycling easier, invest in cleaner technologies, and take tougher action against the fly-tippers and waste criminals who pollute our landscape and trash our blue planet.”
Gove reiterated that Brexit would be a positive step for British food and agriculture saying that leaving the European Union “allows us to act faster and more flexibly to sweep away the barriers which have stood in the way of modernising farming”.
“Our new Agriculture Bill will help farmers to be more productive and ensure they get a fair price for their produce.It will mean that they can invest in new technology to help them provide a harvest for the world,” Gove said.
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