Food - a Scottish Perspective

Hugh Raven, Commissioner for Scotland explains the importance of the food agenda for Scotland and Wales

Food production and consumption are woven through our economy, environment, and society. There are huge opportunities from taking a joined-up approach and considering these issues simultaneously. The scale of the potential impacts is vast.

In Scotland, 122,000 people work in food and drink processing and the associated supply chain, generating £7.57bn in sales. A further £2bn comes from agriculture, aquaculture and fish catching.

Food is also an average household’s number one contribution to climate change, responsible for nearly a third (31%) of our greenhouse gas emissions - through an accumulation of emissions from primary production, transportation, processing, storage, consumption and waste.

The food we eat also has a major impact on the nation's health through the familiar litany - obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and allergies. Indeed, according to Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer, poor diet has overtaken smoking in Scotland as an avoidable cause of cancer.

A cross-cutting food policy could address major issues - challenges such as obesity, food transportation and agricultural incomes.

The food and drink industry makes and important contribution to communities (from primary producers through to retailers and the food service sector) by creating wealth and providing employment and access to a healthy, affordable diet.

In 2005 the Sustainable Development Commission defined sustainable food and drink thus:
• safe, healthy and nutritious food for consumers in shops, restaurants, schools, hospitals etc
• providing a viable livelihood for farmers, processors and retailers, whose employees enjoy a safe and hygienic working environment, whether in the UK or overseas
• respecting biophysical and environmental limits in its production and processing, while reducing energy consumption and improving the wider environment; it also respects the highest standards of animal health and welfare, compatible with the production of affordable food for all sectors of society
• supporting rural economies and the diversity of rural culture, in particular through an emphasis on local products that keep food miles to a minimum.
• meeting the needs of less well-off people

Were food policy in Wales to use this definition, it would open the door for a holistic approach - considering everything from equity of access, to supporting rural communities.

Local food is growing in popularity, but it’s poorly-defined and a great deal more complex than it seems. Local sourcing can have an important role - in sustaining rural communities, supporting the agricultural industry, encouraging environmental stewardship and supporting valued landscapes. But seasonality is also an important guide to sustainable production, to avoid supporting products that require excessive heat and power during growth or storage. Produce grown overseas in warmer climes can have lower impact, even factoring in transport emissions.

Full life-cycle assessment is needed, to identify the key elements of sustainability for individual products – in the form of a guide to sustainable sourcing. If the Welsh Assembly Government were to work with retailers and public procurers to reduce the climate impacts of Wales’s fine meat and dairy products by leading a transition to a more localised supply chain, it would be a tremendous opportunity to show real leadership.

Infrastructure too must be reassessed - not only to ensure competitiveness, but also to reduce transport emissions and increase the freshness of food. Countless abattoirs have closed across the Scotland, and also in Wales, in the name of food safety and animal welfare. With animals travelling literally hundreds of miles to slaughter, there's limited evidence of either vaunted benefit.

Moving towards sustainable food consumption requires government, businesses and consumers to share responsibility for leading change. Consumers are leading the way already, as the example of increasing sales statistics for organic and fair-trade food clearly show. Many food producers are equally committed. The retailers must not shirk their role, not least in editing choices - shifting the field of availability for consumers, by cutting out the damaging products and getting sustainable choices on the shelves.

Few areas of public policy have greater impacts than food – which means that Wales must address these economic, social and environmental dimensions in an integrated way.