Government food report sparks industry into action

Dominic Dyer, chief executive of the Crop Protection Agency (CPA) supported the report's emphasis on research and technology to address food security issues: "Agricultural plant research is critical and the CPA will be pushing hard over the next year for government to recognise the importance of science and research."

A CPA and Rothamstead Research joint round table later this year will debate science policy and the importance of UK research, said Dyer. "A lot of places have been under pressure with budgets being cut and are worried the UK is losing out to other areas of the world."

However, he believed Caroline Spelman, secretary of state for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and other officials were committed to supporting UK research.

The CPA is also organising a round table in the spring, in Brussels, involving government chief scientist professor John Beddington, agricultural trade ambassadors and EU ministers to discuss the Foresight report's global implications. Dyer said some in Europe believed the era of cheap and plentiful food was not over and had to be spurred into action on food security.

Andrew Kuyk, sustainability director at the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), said industry barriers to lengthy technology projects had to be overcome through partnerships with government and third parties.

"Food manufacturers' investment cycles are a lot shorter," said Kuyk. "They are not necessarily looking at what would be innovative in 10 years or situations when food supply is more restricted. There's a need for long-term partnerships and knowledge transfer."

He said many of the report's themes chimed with the aims of FDF's Five-fold Environmental Ambition, such as cuts in waste.