Calls for action on UK food security

BEEF farmers have warned the Environment Secretary that food security must be “taken seriously” and producers protected from the threat of inferior imports, as the coronavirus crisis magnifies the importance of home-grown food.

In an open letter sent to George Eustice this week, the National Beef Association (NBA) called on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) for the fasttracking of an objective study, after amendments to the Agriculture Bill to protect British standards were defeated during its third reading.

Sent by the organisation’s interim chief executive, Neil Shand, the letter asks the Camborne, Redruth and Hayle MP to confirm that existing EU law, preventing food imports from inferior production processes and animal welfare, will be fully adopted into UK law - ‘slamming the door’ to hormone-treated beef imports.

It also claims that the Government appears to be taking food security “less seriously than we would like, or than is sensible”, highlighting that mid-pandemic, food shortages are still being seen in supermarkets.

Mr Shand explained: “Imagine a scenario where we have a situation which forces us to close our borders for any length of time. As you will be aware, in excess of 2,000 trucks a day come in from Europe to feed our country; in less than ten days shelves would be empty of the majority of fresh food.

“We have seen the impacts of panic buying - reason does not seem to come into decision making, and experiences from recent weeks are only likely to worsen the effect, which would also ensure a shortage of long life food – pasta, rice, flour, sugar. Never has home-grown and home-produced food been more important than it is now.”

It is “vital” that “strong and stable frameworks” are put in place to help protect Britain’s home producers, the letter adds, ensuring that they can meet a greater level of demand internally should it be required.

Mr Shand continued: “We [NBA] would be interested to hear how the Government intends to ensure future food security for our country in the event of a major incident such as coronavirus.”

In the beef-producing heartland of the South West, ideally suited for the task with its temperate climate and expansive pastures, there are fears that trade deals allowing cheaper, sub-standard imports to come into the UK would leave the region’s farmers unable to compete.

Jilly Greed, who farms near Exeter and co-founded the organisation Ladies in Beef alongside National Farmers’ Union (NFU) president, Minette Batters, said in an interview with BBC Spotlight earlier this week: “What it will mean is that we cannot possibly produce and make a margin ... so we’re a loss-making enterprise and we’re fairly close to that at the moment - that cannot be sustained in any form of farming system.

“However high the environmental standards, animal welfare and hygiene, we just simply won’t exist because we can’t make any money.”

But Richard Vines, founder and owner of Dartmoor-based Wild Beef, warned that there are “always going to be cheap imports”, adding: “Any

Government that doesn’t supply its people with cheap food isn’t going to last long.”

A former soldier and brewery executive, Mr Vines, who sells his ‘beyond organic’, wholly grass-fed and finished beef to shoppers at London’s Borough Market and Broadway Market in Hackney, said it all boils down to “consumer choice”. He continued: “No organisation is going to be able to change whether