Food lies at the centre of a very complex web that extends to every aspect of our existence, from the state of our countryside to the length of our lives.

With a growing population, climate change and the pressure we are putting on land, we will have to produce more food sustainably. We also need to provide the right information for people to make more informed choices about what they eat. Diet will have a huge impact not only on our health and our economy, but most importantly on sustainability.

To this end we will support and develop British farming and encourage sustainable food production, helping to enhance the competitiveness and resilience of the whole food chain, including farms and the fish industry, to ensure a secure, environmentally sustainable and healthy supply of food with improved standards of animal welfare.

We will need to work in partnership with a range of sectors from the food and farming industries, consumers, civil society and EU and international organisations.

Supported by Defra, Eat Seasonably is all about inspiring and enabling people to eat more seasonal fruit and vegetables and helping them to grow their own. Read more or visit the Eat Seasonably pages on Directgov.

Latest news

• 11 May 2012 – Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill introduced into Parliament to protect suppliers by ensuring that large retailers treat them fairly by upholding the Groceries Supply Code of Practice.
  • Further information is available on the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills website
  • Follow the progress of the Bill – Parliament website
• April 2012 – Wines can now be registered as a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) or Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) and Defra is pleased to announce that it has received its first wine PDO application “Darnibole” under this new process
• 27 January 2012 – Food and Drink Exports Action Plan
• 13 December 2011 – Family food 2010 statistics
• 29 November 2011 – Rural Growth announces measures to support the agrifood sector

Food Growing in Schools Taskforce Report

On 5 March 2012, the Secretary of State launched the publication of the Food Growing in Schools Taskforce Report. The report looks at the benefits at of food growing – educationally, socially and in terms of health. It also makes six key recommendations of how all schools can be food growing schools in the future.

Defra supported the Taskforce (led by Garden Organic and involving organisations from the education, voluntary and community, media and corporate sectors) in the development of the report and funded research that reviewed the evidence of the impact of food growing in schools.

• Food Growing in Schools Taskforce Report (PDF 2 MB)
• Food Growing Activities in Schools (PDF 1 MB) (Defra funded Research, conducted by NfER)

International context

As members of the EU, the UK food sector benefits from being part of the single market. It also means much of our food policy is influenced by EU legislation. As the biggest trading block in the world, the EU is a powerful figure on the international stage.

EU engagement therefore continues to be a priority, particularly in emphasising the importance of integrated food policy that meets the needs of Europe’s citizens, and enables a competitive and sustainable food system that supports global food security.

The Department for International Development (DFID) and Defra work closely on influencing international action, and jointly sponsored a major international project led by Sir John Beddington, the UK’s Chief Scientist, to address the question of how a global population of 9 billion can all be fed healthily and sustainably. The Foresight project on Global Food and Farming Futures reported its findings in January 2011.

• The Global Food and Farming Futures report and Defra’s initial reaction

Challenges to the food system

• The sector is heavily dependent on oil, energy and water, all increasingly scarce, and telecoms and transport where reliability and diversity of supply are essential.
• Agriculture contributes to climate change: direct emissions from agriculture accounted for about 8% of UK greenhouse gas emissions in 2008.
• Diet-related ill health costs the NHS an estimated £7 billion a year, with further costs to the wider economy through inability to work.
• While consumers are increasingly interested in healthy eating, on current trends 40% of the UK population would be obese by 2025, and 60% by 2050.
• 70,000 premature deaths a year could be avoided if, nationally, our diets matched nutritional guidelines on salt, fat, sugar and fruit and vegetable consumption.
• Waste is a food chain issue – 8.3 million tonnes of food and drink is wasted by consumer each year, 5.3 million tonnes of this is avoidable.
• With the global population estimated to increase from 6 billion to 9 billion by 2050, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates global food production will have to increase by 70% compared to 2005-7 levels. Increasing availability of, and access to, existing food supplies,  including by minimising waste along the food chain, will also be important. Already, over 1 billion people globally face hunger and undernourishment.

Economic significance of the food sector

• The agri-food sector contributed £84.6 billion to the economy in 2008, 7.1% of the total and including the UK’s largest manufacturing sector.
• 3 million people are employed in food and farming, of which 2.4 million are in the retail and food service sectors.
• Consumer expenditure on food and drink was £177 billion in 2009
• The UK exported £13.2 billion worth of food and drink in 2008
• The UK imported £31.6 billion worth of food and drink in 2008

The 2010 Food Statistics Pocketbook is available to download.

Key documents

• Guidance on the application of date labels to food – use of ‘best before’ or ‘use by’ dates
• Retail food price inflation modelling project – Final report (PDF 2.5 MB)
• Indicators for a sustainable food system
• The 2007/08 agriculture price spikes
• UK Cross-Government Food Research and Innovation Strategy (PDF 1.4 MB)
• Directgov
• Foresight Project on Global Food and Farming Futures
• UK Food Security Assessment: Detailed Analysis (PDF 2.5 MB)
• UK Food Security Assessment: Summary (PDF 65 KB)