Agri-supply chain crucial to UK food security and sustainability, Lords hear
The agricultural supply industry's vital role in strengthening UK food security has been raised in the UK Parliament today (18 July), as a new parliamentary session gets underway following the General Election.
The Agricultural Industries Confederation (AIC) - the trade association representing agri-supply businesses - welcomed Lord Fuller OBE's maiden speech, in which he paid tribute to the UK as a global leader in agricultural innovation while highlighting opportunities and challenges for the food supply chain.
Lord Fuller, who is the Chair of AIC Member business Brineflow, used his first speech in the House of Lords to underline the importance of agricultural supply businesses in supporting the supply chains which make up the UK's food system. He was introduced to Parliament on 12 March as a life peer.
Agricultural supply businesses supply UK farmers and growers with the animal feed, crop protection products, fertiliser, seed, trusted advice and quality services that are essential to producing food, as well as trading crops and commodities across the globe.
Robert Sheasby, AIC's Chief Executive, said: "Lord Fuller is a strong advocate for our industry and I welcome his maiden speech to the House of Lords today.
"His comments align with AIC's call for an independent food security committee to consider food production and land use balances needed for the UK."
Lord Fuller told Peers that producing food and protecting the environment could be delivered in tandem, and should not be viewed as competing objectives.
He said: "The entire agricultural supply trades support an army of farmers, who have created our countryside and our natural environment and whose dedication, professionalism and innovation have made our agriculture the most innovative, sophisticated and productive in the world.
"The supply industries have innovated technical advances that prove that there isn't a binary choice between farming and wildlife in the business of food production at the lowest cost and impact.
"No longer should there be a contest between food production and the environment - both can be achieved together."
Food security
National food security was raised as something which needs greater attention given extreme weather and international unrest, while innovation in precision-bred crops offered opportunities for UK agriculture.
"As a nation that now only produces two-thirds of the food we consume, where we have a competitive advantage on matters like genomics we should exploit it," said Lord Fuller.
"But chasing regulatory alignment with our closest neighbours in a way that hobbles our food chain with counterproductive carbon taxes and trade barriers that do nothing to reduce emissions, yet drive up domestic prices in the name of consistency, does not help us to export our bread, beer and cheese to global audiences and earn our place in the world.
"Lately it’s been overlooked, but our food security is something that we must focus on in times of international unrest and extreme weather. We must celebrate those who sustain us by putting food on kitchen tables across our nation, delivering that most basic survival need of all – nourishment."
AIC has led calls for the Government to establish an independent, statutory Food Security Committee - a recommendation of the "Powering Productivity for Sustainable UK Food Security" report commissioned by the agri-supply trade association in 2023.
The report found that "the UK would benefit from the oversight provided by a statutory body established by government to operate independently beyond short-term parliamentary cycles.
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Author
Oli Hill
As Head of Communications, Oli creates and oversees the content published on AIC's website, emails, Member briefings, print publications, and social media. A qualified multimedia journalist, he previously spent six years working at Farmers Weekly magazine as a Senior Reporter on the arable team, and latterly as Community Editor. More recently he was Communications Manager at Red Tractor.
