The Good Food Guide

The government recently published a new Food Security Assessment as part of efforts to ensure the sustainability of the UK's food supply.

In it Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary Hilary Benn MP said, "We need a radical rethink of how we produce and consume our food."

Sheepdrove blog reports on the response from the Soil Association which makes plain the need to 'transform the way we will feed ourselves in the future" and cites Reading University research pointing out how organic farming could be the answer, whilst also potentially offsetting climate change.

Robin Smith watched the BBC series 'The Future of Food' from where he picks up an 'occasional pearl of wisdom'. He points out how with as much as 1/3 of all food bought in this country thrown out to waste and the prevalence of an overly meat-dependent diet the potential exists for us to support a population twice current levels.

Rachel Eden supports the Chicken Out! campaign. This encourages consumers to consider the welfare of the animals we consume in meat products and use our purchasing power to pressure participants in the food supply chain to behave more responsibility - she thinks it may even help your waistline!

Last, but not least, Matt Blackall is given an awayday while working for DEFRA to visit a farm so that he could better understand the lifecycle of the milking process.

Matt explains how economic pressures can be imposed by commercial organisations such as big supermarket chains forcing smaller producers to accept lower prices, which can lead to corner-cutting in order to survive. It is a dilemma for bureaucrats to negotiate because although food quality is of the utmost importance, government depends on encouraging business to improve profitability.