Written evidence submitted by The Soil Association (COV0032)

 

The Soil Association welcomes the opportunity to submit written evidence to this inquiry and would be pleased to provide oral evidence or speak with Committee members to elaborate on any points.

 

The Soil Association was formed in 1946 by a group of farmers, scientists, doctors and nutritionists who were determined to pioneer a world where we can live in health and in harmony with nature. Today we work across the food system, collaborating with organic and non-organic producers and organisations to innovate and implement practical solutions that create a better future. Through our trading subsidiary, Soil Association Certification, we work with over 6,000 businesses including organic farmers and growers, foresters, caterers, food processors and manufacturers across more than 50 countries, and we certify approximately 15 million hectares of forest globally.

 

SUMMARY

 

Despite the remarkable response from those engaged in the farming and food supply chain to keep food on the nation’s plates, there are some important learning points at this stage.

 

Government needs to have plans ready in order to support and guide the response of food supply chain players to an emergency – including the more insidious but massive climate emergency. There is an over reliance on long and complicated supply chains with critical dependencies that can easily come undone.

 

UK farming needs to be more diverse to feed people a healthy diet at all times. This requires support for more resilient local and direct food networks beyond the current crisis. In particular we need a clear government ambition to grow the UK supply of fruit, vegetables, nuts and pulses, boosting demand via seasonal menus in schools and hospitals and addressing the labour and skills gaps in horticulture. At the same time, we need to examine whether our current industrialised food system is undermining food security by making crises – from pandemics to droughts to pollinator extinctions – more likely. Food production that doesn’t safeguard the natural world is not secure.

 

The crisis has magnified existing serious deficiencies such as the large numbers of people with limited or no access to and consumption of healthy diets who can quickly be tipped into food poverty. This is linked to the ongoing crisis of poor nutrition which is linked to bad outcomes from infection. Government has a clear role in addressing this.

 

One positive development has been a much stronger interest from many citizens in the food they eat and where it comes from. Fostering this through measures such as ensuring sufficient allotments are available to people without gardens and helping consumers to connect directly with producers, should be a government priority.

 

The National Food Strategy needs to be accompanied by government commitments to public policy outcomes in key areas such as good nutrition and acceptance that where the market is unable to deliver these then government will intervene with targets and policy frameworks to ensure the market delivers the desired outcomes. The Agriculture Bill is largely fit for purpose, but only if it is part of a wider government strategy for food, farming and the environment. The Bill should be amended to set clear goals for healthy food security and resilient supply chains as part of a wider strategy to transition UK farming to net zero, nature-friendly systems, which in turn will need robust measures to ensure domestic production is not undercut by imports produced in less sustainable and climate-friendly ways. ‘Public money for public goods’ - paying farmers to look after the environment, water and air quality - should remain the fundamental principle of the Agriculture Bill but this should be premised on supporting farmers to care for the whole environment, not just part of it.

 

Have the measures announced by the Government to mitigate the disruptions to the food supply chain caused by the pandemic been proportionate, effective and timely?

 

The response from the Government remains a work in progress, as the full impacts of COVID-19 are yet to be realised. It is too early to draw conclusions about UK food chain resilience, or the adequacy of the Government’s overall response.

 

Nevertheless, it is evident that the pandemic has exposed weaknesses in our food system

 

 

The Government’s response to these and other issues has been mixed

 

 

The weaknesses in supply chains and the shortcomings in the Government’s response, coupled with the likelihood of challenges still to come, highlight the importance of a joined-up policy approach to food and farming. The Government must re-commit to the development of the National Food Strategy, which has (understandably) been put on hold pending a resolution to the COVID-19 crisis.

 

 

Are the Government and food industry doing enough to support people to access sufficient healthy food; and are any groups not having their needs met? If not, what further steps should the Government and food industry take?


The short answer is ‘No’. The enormous scale of food insecurity in the UK has been exposed and exacerbated by COVID-19, as illustrated by the RSA Commission’s survey results, quoted above. Children reliant on school meals have been left exposed to hunger and inadequate diets through the closure of schools and shortcomings in the Government’s response.

 

The Government’s response to school closures has been commendable in some respects. Guidance was quickly issued on how schools should support children eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) to access either meal packages or supermarket vouchers. But there have been issues –

 

 

Despite these challenges, there are encouraging stories from schools and caterers who are serving high quality food to families and workers in need.

 

Amanda Whatley, Hampshire County Council’s Catering Service, a Bronze Food for Life Served Here caterer, says of her work in Hampshire:

 

“Low income parents were initially wondering how and what they would feed their children. We acted swiftly to keep kitchens open, continuing to serve hot ‘Food for Life Served Here’ standard food to vulnerable and critical workers’ children. We also put together thousands of healthy lunch boxes for pupils eligible for free school meals. These lunch boxes vary, but contain a mix of fresh fruit, seasonal veg for salad, yoghurt, and proteins such as tuna, ham and cheese. We created school food hubs in collaboration with schools and worked with our suppliers to ensure we had adequate food supplies.

 

A key part of our strategy is to keep parents engaged with us as their trusted caterer. We are providing tangible help with rescue recipes, shopping lists and meal ideas for the supermarket vouchers, and food hacks to make the food in their cupboards stretch further.

 

Colleagues have been given guidance on preventing virus transmission and operating within social distancing guidelines. We have been impressed by the willingness and solidarity our team has shown to work through Easter and school holidays often beyond their contracted hours. This enabled them to feed the most vulnerable children in their schools, as well as key workers’ children, even when they have their own families to manage.

 

We expect the weeks ahead to continue to test us and we are determined to do our best, keeping to our mission to be a leading catering service, maximising public value and serving Food for Life Served Here standard food. By maintaining these standards, we are supporting the local community by helping children to receive the fresh, nutritious food they need, at a time when it is more crucial than ever.”

 

Read more from Amanda here.

 

Soil Association CEO Helen Browning, who runs Eastbrook Farm and two pubs/restaurants, has also reoriented her business to begin feeding the night shift at Swindon hospital. Local philanthropists are covering the cost of ingredients. Three evenings a week, Eastbrook will be serving fresh, healthy organic food to nurses and support staff, with meals being collected and distributed.

 

 

What further impacts could the current pandemic have on the food supply chain, or individual elements of it, in the short to medium-term and what steps do industry, consumers and the Government need to take to mitigate them?


Two contradictory trends have been apparent. The food sector has shown huge innovation to reinforce and re-orientate supply chains in a very short timescale, and at a macro-level food has continued to be available, although with major caveats around the ability of certain groups to access food as noted above. However, the overall resilience of the supply chain in response to what is a comparatively minor challenge is insufficient. The massive threat of climate change or indeed a pandemic with much greater lethality will require resilience an order of magnitude greater. Minor dependencies in the complex supply chains for particular products (egg boxes, flour packets, yeast) have caused disproportionate disruption and whilst there has been a remarkable reorientation of the food chain in a short time it seems clear that should any further challenge happen at the same time (e.g. a meteorological event such as flooding) the challenge would be much harder to address.

 

One of the most notable responses has been the huge expansion of producers supplying consumers directly. This has included the organic vegetable and meat sector and some producers who were previously supplying the hospitality sector (including dairy). The Government should aim to build on this and focus on encouraging decentralised and more self-sufficient approaches which are more resilient. At the same time, it is clear that some producers have been hit hard, especially niche markets such as goat and sheepmilk and more widely the diary sector where tightly balanced markets have caused prices to slump as detailed above. Decisions now need to be made by industry and government about which elements of the response to the pandemic might (and should) become a permanent change (vegetable box deliveries seem a prime candidate) and how any reversion to the status quo should best be handled to minimise business uncertainty. It would be unfortunate if producers responded to the immediate crisis, only to have produce rejected by supermarkets next year because supplies from other countries were once again cheap and easy to source. There will be considerable temptation to strike rapid trade deals in the coming years from countries that produce to standards below that in the UK, and legal provision will be needed to ensure this is not a solution imposed on UK consumers and farmers.

 

The initial outbreak occurred at a relatively fortuitous time of year for the consumer when domestic supplies of vegetables were coming on tap and renewed grass growth could support diary and livestock production. We need to assess how a similar outbreak in December with severely disrupted food and feed imports might be handled, and how exposed are we to tighter grain and protein imports later in the year if the global pandemic worsens.

 

Aside from the immediate challenges, farm businesses now need to have clarity about medium term business prospects. These include labour for harvesting this year, market conditions that give businesses confidence to plant for next year, and issues such as seed availability. A particular business uncertainty lies around the issue of Brexit transition where the prospect of border delays and tariffs on imports and exports is deeply unhelpful. We need to ensure that producers do not cut back on production now as an immediate response to markets drying up, resulting in tighter food supply later in the pandemic when supplies from abroad might be less available to fill the gap. Government has a key role in providing this business certainty.

 

The organic sector is facing particular challenges and it is important not to repeat the mistakes of the 2008 financial crash when government assumptions in the UK contributed to the organic market moving backwards when most European countries saw the organic share of the market increase markedly. It is important that we do not repeat the current situation whereby the UK is importing to satisfy organic demand, and ensure that government provides a secure framework for organic expansion over this period to meet future demand.

 

How effectively has the Government worked with businesses and NGOs to share information on disruptions to the supply chain and other problems, and to develop and implement solutions? How effectively have these actions been communicated to the public?


Food and farming businesses have demonstrated significant flexibility and resilience in responding to the challenge and the government is right that the market will be central to the response now and to future challenges. However, government has a clear role in providing the framework for the market, and to address issues at the extremes, most notably vulnerable producer and consumer groups.

 

There is a lack of public sector leadership in knowledge of and signposting local supply networks, which could best be done through local government support.

 

Defra has also not been proactive in filling gaps in their intelligence on key sectors like organic, where they could be facilitating better information to enable networks to operate better.

 

Government also needs to take a proactive approach to publicising funding for initiatives like WRAP providing funding for emergency food waste solutions.

 

 

 

 

ENDS