A People’s Food Policy, 2017: This report is a ground-breaking manifesto, in the context of the food sovereignty framework, to which the UK Food Group contributed. It outlines a people’s vision of food and farming in England and is supported by over 100 food and farming organisations. The report draws on 18 months of extensive, nation-wide consultations with grassroots organisations, NGOs, trade unions, community projects, small businesses and individuals. It has resulted in a set of policy proposals and a vision for change that is rooted in the lived experiences and needs of people most affected by the failures in the current food system. Agriculture is one of the sectors that faces a high level of uncertainty as a result of the UK leaving the European Union.
At the launch of the publication in September 2017, Dee Butterly, the co-ordinator of this initiative and a young tenant farmer and member of the Landworkers’ Alliance said: “The lack of a coherent, joined-up food policy framework in England is becoming increasingly problematic. In this country we have shameful levels of food insecurity, with food bank usage rising year on year, and an estimated over eight million people now in a state of such financial precarity they can’t afford to eat”. The extensive report covers governance, food production, health, land, labour, environment, knowledge and skills, trade and finance-each with an in depth analysis and policy proposals for transforming the food systems in England.
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