Environmental Land Management Scheme: Food Production — [Geraint Davies in the Chair]

Part of the debate – in Westminster Hall at 10:48 am on 1 February 2022.

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Photo of Victoria Prentis Victoria Prentis The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 10:48, 1 February 2022

It is a delight to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Davies, as it always is under the chairmanship of my hon Friend Neil Parish. I should declare my farming interests, which are well rehearsed in this House. I congratulate my hon. Friend Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown on securing the debate. I greatly enjoyed visiting his constituency last week for a challenging and thought-provoking afternoon, when we discussed water and nutrient pollution. I thank all the farmers in the country for producing the food that we enjoy eating—at least three times a day in my case.

Farmers produce food. That is their job, and that will not change as a result of the future farming policy. My hon. Friend Siobhan Baillie put it extremely well when she said, “Food, food, food.” I am very much looking forward to encouraging the nation to join a national conversation about food in the White Paper, which is shortly to be published by the Government. There will be much more to say about that in the coming months.

The pandemic has reminded us how important food security is. Under the Agriculture Act 2020, where food definitely features right at the beginning, we have a legal responsibility to review food security every three years. Our first report, which I recommend to those present, was published just before Christmas and highlighted the resilience of our food supply chain. Our production-to-supply ratio remains high when judged against historic levels. We must not forget that the figure was about 30% in the late 19th century and about 40% just before the war. I take the challenge from Daniel Zeichner to commit to 60%.