Delicious UK - (04)April 2020

deliciousmagazine.co.uk 17

making a difference.

andenvironmentaldamage.
“Astheamountoffoodincreased,
wegotheavierandheavier,and
significantnumbersofpeoplebegan
togetsick,”Dimblebyexplains.
“Andasweproducedmorefood
froma hectareofland,wedrove
outthewildlifeandthebiodiversity.”
TheStrategyis partlyaimedat
haltingthisdamage,soDimblebyis
exploringthecomplexwebofissues
andplayersthatmakeupEngland’s
foodsystem.Fromagriculture,
trade,foodsecurityandclimate
changerightthroughtotherolesof
supermarkets,foodbanks,industrial
foodproducersandthecostof
thegrowingobesityproblem...
Everything’sbeingexplored.
A keyfocusis thetruecostof
food,bothtotheenvironmentand
forpeoplestrugglingtoaffordit.
Dimblebystronglybelievesthose
twoissuesneedtobeexamined
separately.“Longterm,youcan
besureashellthatdestroyingour
environmentis nota sustainable
solutiontopoverty,”hesays.
“Butyoualsoneedtolookatthe
problemspeoplearehavingputting
foodonthetableandtheways
that we as a society should be

helpingthem.Youcan’t conflate

thosetwothings.“

He’salsoconsideringthedifferent

andpowerfulplayersinthefood

system– includingsupermarkets

andfoodmanufacturers– andwhat

impacttheyhaveonthenation’s

health,farmers’incomes and

climatechange.

Ultimately,Dimblebybelieves

manyofthebigdecisionscan’tbe

madebymathematicalcalculationor

economicmodelling;citizensneed

tohelpdecidethepaththeywantto

take.Forexample,towhatextent

dopeoplewantthegovernmentto

protectthemfrom‘baddiets’?What

dotheywantthecountrysidetolook

like?Tothisend,Dimblebywants

communitiesandindividuals

acrossthecountrytocontribute

theirideas(seeright).

Whichofthemanybigissues

keephimawakeatnightthemost?

“Thequestionofhowyouchange

a systemwithoutdoingmoreharm

thangood.Thatliterallykeepsme

awake,”Dimblebysays.“Butthen

inthemorningthethingthatgives

mehopeis thatwehavedoneit

before.Wesolveda bigproblem

once and we can do it again.”

THEAIMToaddresstheenvironmentaland

healthproblemscausedbythecurrentfood

system,toensurethesecurityofourfoodsupply

andtomaximisethebenefitsofthecoming

revolutioninagriculturaltechnology.

THESCOPETheStrategywillconcentrateon

Englandbutwill‘considerrelationshipswith

devolvedadministrations, the EU and other

tradingpartners’.

THETIMINGTheyear-longreview,whichbegan

inJune2019,isunderwaynow.Aswewentto

press,thefinalreportwas scheduled to be

released imminently.

Thequestionofhowyou

changea systemwithoutdoing

moreharmthangood.

That literally keeps me awake

Peoplelikeyouare

neededtodiscuss,

debateandshare

ideasaboutwhat’s

workinginourfood

systemandwhat

needstochange.

Totakepart,visit

nationalfoodstrategy.org

tosignuptobepart

oftheNationalFood

Conversationandreceive

your conversation toolkit.

THENATIONALFOOD STRATEGY

IN A NUTSHELL

Doyouhavean

opinionaboutthe

futureofthenation’s

food?Here’show

to haveyourvoice

heardÉ