MPs examine food policy and land use
Food security issues including national self-sufficiency, the ‘right to food’ and land use will be discussed at an evidence session of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee.
The session is the fourth hearing in the committee’s inquiry, Food Security, which is looking at factors currently affecting farmers’ ability to produce food, households’ access to it, and the government’s longer-term plan, or ‘Food Strategy’.
Meeting details
A first panel of witnesses will consider the governance arrangements for food policy and the levers available to set that policy. While the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs has multiple responsibilities across areas including food and farming, many other departments and agencies also have key roles. Witnesses may be asked whether there is coherence, overlap or gaps in policies aimed at making nutritious food available to all.
A second panel will look at the government’s forthcoming Land Use Framework, due to be published next year. The panel will likely consider the balance between food security and enhancing the environment.
Questions may also be asked about how land use is defined, influenced and administered, including how government can influence private landowners and managers.