Cautious welcome for food strategy

As revealed yesterday by the Yorkshire Post, Defra Secretary Hilary Benn wants to see food labelled clearly, encourage smaller portions to be sold and provide nutrition information – such as calorie counts – on restaurant menus.

The Government also wants to see a reduction in food waste and more seasonal food to reduce its impact on the environment.

Mr Benn officially announced the plans yesterday at the Oxford Farming Conference and said the strategy represented a "big opportunity for farmers".

"It is only in the last few decades that we have felt able to take food supply for granted, but the truth is now apparent," he said. "We cannot take it for granted any more."

He added: "Your job as growers and producers of Britain's food

is to seize the opportunity before you and show what you can do using all the ingenuity

and tenacity that is inherent in farming, and fishing and

food."

Peter Kendall, president of the National Farmers' Union (NFU) said "This vision demonstrates that Defra has grasped the complex issues that are in play when developing a joined up food policy and that it will provide much-needed leadership on food policy."

William Worsley, president of the Country Land and Business Association and a Yorkshire landowner, said the plans

"spell out the massively important place of the food industry in the British economy and agriculture in the food industry".

Ian Woodhurst, the Campaign to Protect Rural England's farming campaigner, welcomed the moves to encourage more purchases of local seasonal food.