‘Join up food and nutrition policy’
Sir David Bell, who is now vice chancellor of Reading University, was speaking at the Annual Day of the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) in London last month. The event was attended by food industry representatives, academics, and – from across the UK – school teachers and their award winning pupils studying nutrition.
“It is important that we continue to press for the better joining up of food and nutrition policy in the UK – dare I say especially in England,” said Bell. “Sometimes the relevant government departments don’t appear to be working as well together in the common interest on these issues as they might.”
Bell expressed particular concern about erosion of research spending on food and nutrition. “We should continue to be worried about the downgrading of food research in key government departments,” he warned. “Because, that in turn leads to uncertainty and underfunding of new work in the future.”
Four challenges
A more joined up government food and nutrition policy was one of four challenges posed by Bell. He also said there was a need to convince politicians of the “clear connection between climate change and the food supply”; to deal with the skills gap; and getting all players in the food supply chain to work more closely together.
“We must ensure that our politicians recognise the clear connection between climate change and the food supply both here and internationally,” said Bell. “Climate change and food security are not separate issues, they are intimately related.”
Bell said everyone in the sector had a role to play in addressing skills shortages to ensure that well-qualified science students entered university wanting to study food-related subjects, including food and nutritional sciences at both undergraduate and post graduate level.
“For too long, despite the great efforts of those represented here today from schools, food and nutritional science hasn’t been seen as a fair career choice. And I would encourage BNF to continue its championing of the cause of food and nutritional science in universities and encouraging more and more students to consider that as a great option to study.”
Bell said: “We need to redouble our efforts to ensure the agriculture and food industries – both in manufacturing and retail – work together with government and academia.
‘Tougher choices will face business’
“I don’t think partnership activity is complete. As we move to a period where some of the tougher choices will face business about the nature of foods that are on sale to the public, then the science voice that is represented by BNF becomes even more important.”
Responding to Bell’s presentation, David Gregory, chairman of the BNF Board of Trustees and chairman of Assured Food Standards and former technical director for Marks & Spencer, said: “Let’s be clear, all of those four challenges are very close to the heart of the BNF.”
He described the joining up of food and nutrition policy and getting government departments to work together as “possibly the biggest challenge of them all”.
