Benn serves up food for thought

Too much policy-making is geared towards the next set of opinion polls. It invariably means putting off the more difficult decisions that have implications for future governments. And, too frequently for their own good, Cabinet ministers are switched to another brief before they can make a lasting impact.

This misfortune has not befallen Hilary Benn, the Leeds MP, who joined Defra in June 2007 when Gordon Brown came to power – and is just one of a handful of Ministers who have stayed in the post throughout this turbulent period.

The knowledge he has gleaned with this continuing role showed through yesterday with the launch of Food 2030, a new strategy intended to highlight the importance of home-grown produce and self-sufficiency.

The one criticism is that it has taken the Government so long to recognise the issue's importance. Yet, while addressing the need for change, the timing of Mr Benn's speech also showed the extent to which farmers and food producers are still beholden to the major supermarkets.

As the Minister was on his feet, Leeds-based Asda was announcing its biggest set of price reductions for a decade. Yet, while shoppers will benefit from the price cuts and rival supermarkets competing for their custom, they appear more geared towards the business interests of the stores concerned rather than any long-term act of benevolence.

The consequence is the possibility of stores importing more produce – or squeezing, still further, the amounts paid to domestic food producers, the very people who the country, according to Mr Benn, will become increasingly dependent upon in the years to come. It is a conundrum that remains unanswered.