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Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk 20 July 2019 | The Grocer | 3T
he UK food and farming system must be radically
transformed within the next decade.
So argues the RSA in a landmark report this
week, which calls for a 10-year ‘transition plan’ to
achieve sustainable farming and food production in the UK by
2030 and cut the UK’s addiction to ‘cheap food’ (p38).
It’s a bold vision that manages to refl ect the realities of food
and farming at the same time. Instead of calling for a wholesale
reduction in meat intake, for example, it rightly recognises that
pasture-fed livestock has a key role to play in the British diet.
It also makes the case that Brexit is an opportunity to usher
in a much-needed overhaul of how food is produced and
consumed in the UK. However, that’s an outcome we must not
take for granted.
Thanks to Brexit, our food system is indeed well on its way to
being radically transformed – we won’t have to wait a decade to
see the eff ects. And it’s not necessarily for the better.
In the same week that the RSA published its report, a second
report – by The Andersons Centre – revealed how a no-deal
Brexit could trigger a fl ood of cheap beef into the UK, with
imports from non-EU countries predicted to rise by more than
1,300% as a result of temporary tariff arrangements (p16).
That’s before we’ve even signed any new trade deals with the
likes of the US, which could open the fl oodgates yet further.
The two reports encapsulate the schism in the public debate
about food right now. On the one hand, politicians like Michael
Gove (who supported the RSA launch ) say they want Brexit to
trigger a bright new future for UK food , underpinned by
ambitious sustainability goals and best-in-class standards.
Elsewhere, however, the government is doing the exact
opposite of what the RSA vision requires – it continues to fl irt
with ‘no deal’, and it’s prepared to crank every tariff lever
available to ensure food prices remain low.
So which one is it going to be? A fair, equitable food and
farming sector for all, or a two-tier system in which only the
‘haves’ can aff ord home-grown food and the ‘have-nots’ are
pushed even further in the direction of cheap (imported) food?“Thanks to Brexit
our food system
is already well
on its way tobeing radically
transformed”Julia Glotz, managing editor“We’re getting more
health-conscious.
And baking comes
with guilt”Emma Weinbren,
food trends editorBrits love baking. Watching
it, anyway. The actual act of
whisking and beating , not so
much. Despite the nationwide
obsession with The Great
British Bake Off , shopper trips
to the home baking aisle have
fallen. Which has resulted in a
near £12m dip in sales.
It’s not that we’re lazy. Kantar
data shows that when it comes
to cooking, we are preparing
more stuff from scratch. So why
is the same not true of baking?
The answer is quite the
opposite of laziness. As a
nation, we’re getting more
health-conscious. And unlike
scratch cooking – which can
feel virtuous – baking oft encomes with a side portion
of guilt. Aft er all, it’s hard to
ignore the vast quantities of
sugar and butter in a cake when
you’re the one pouring them
into a mixing bowl.
The drive for healthier fare
means many sugar brands have
taken a hit , while sweetener
brand Canderel is up.
Still, that doesn’t mean gooey
cakes and brownies are a thing
of the past. Kantar data shows
when bakers do make an eff ort,
they go all out with ever more
intricate, indulgent creations.
And that’s when the Bake Off
obsession pays off.More on pages 4, 41for more opinion see pages 22–
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