Government urged to tackle food price squeeze

Rampant food price inflation and a static economy mean UK consumers are now spending up to a third of their household income on food, three times more than a decade ago.

Failure to address this food price squeeze will damage other sectors of an already fragile economy and could exacerbate problems of poor diet and obesity for families on lower incomes.

That was the stark warning issued to delegates at a New Statesman/ Crop Protection Association debate entitled ’Is science the answer to the global food crisis?’ at this week’s Labour Party Conference in Liverpool.

Shadow Defra Minister Mary Creagh highlighted recent figures from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation that an average family of four had to spend ’111 per week on food to eat properly and live well, up 6% in the past year alone.

She stressed the need for a coherent strategy for UK food production, including access to the best science available to help farmers increase production while impacting less on the environment. GM crops would be one of the tools to consider, but a more balanced, transparent and science-based debate on the technology was needed, she said.

Professor Martin Mortimer, director of Liverpool University’s food security network, agreed that the food security crisis had put agricultural research back in the spotlight. Scientists should do more to explain their research openly to regain public confidence and trust, he said, warning that fears over GM foods were partly caused because scientists failed to engage in the debate, leaving NGOs to fill the vacuum.

Dominic Dyer, Crop Protection Association chief executive, welcomed the call for a renewed debate, but warned that urgent action was needed:

’Feeding a growing population sustainably is the greatest challenge facing mankind today. Access to the latest advances in plant science, biotechnology and crop protection can provide farmers with the tools to increase food production and protect the environment, but we must move quickly as time is not on our side.’

’Already Europe has an area the size of Germany serving its food import needs. If the EU continues to shut the door on GM and pesticides, that requirement will grow, putting increased pressure on resources in other parts of the world. For us it is a question of affordable food and a healthy diet, for developing nations it is a question of life or death,’ he said.