Farmers could be helped post-Brexit if the government issues vouchers to people on low incomes to buy sustainably produced food, it has been suggested.
Farmers could be helped to produce food sustainably that benefits wildlife and soils with demand from school and hospital vouchers.
It is part of a proposal set out by the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group South West charity for a sustainable future for farming and nature post-Brexit.
"An overarching sustainable food scheme could give government funding to people on low incomes or welfare who can't always afford more sustainably-produced food, which can be more expensive," said Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group South West's farm conservation adviser Jenny Phelps.
"This would create a market to help farmers produce food in a way to restore their soils and rebuild natural capital on their land, while making a living, while producing healthy nutritious food with multiple benefits, such as reducing flood risk, capturing carbon and restoring biodiversity for the benefit of all."
Concerns have been raised recently that if subsidy payments are not made by the government that match the current CAP plan hundreds of thousands of acres could be ploughed by farmers struggling to make a living.
Support could also be given to a food assurance scheme that recognised high quality produce farmed sustainably in the UK, currently a niche market that is too expensive for many people to buy or for many farmers to produce.
