AIC welcomes Environment Secretary's ambition for a food strategy in 2025
The Environment Secretary Steve Reed MP has announced that the Government will work with industry to create a Food Strategy in the first half of 2025; a move that has been welcomed by the Agricultural Industries Confederation (AIC).
Making the announcement today (10 December), the Defra Secretary of State said he wanted the new Food Strategy to deliver long-lasting change for a healthier nation and explained that the initiative has cross-government support, including from the Prime Minister's office.
He added that this would work alongside a 25-Year Farming Roadmap recently announced at CLA Conference and a land use strategy which is expected to be published early in 2025, as confirmed by the Food Security Minister Daniel Zeichner MP at AIC Conference in November.
The Government's Food Strategy aims to support food security, economic growth, the environment, and access to affordable, nutritious food. In the New Year, the Secretary of State said he wants to bring the agri-food industry together to co-design and collaborate on a strategy.
Reacting to the news, AIC's Chief Executive Robert Sheasby commented: "AIC and its Members have long sought a clear strategy that will enable businesses to invest with confidence by setting out the expectations of government for the agri-food part of the UK economy.
"We look forward to engaging with the Government to create a strategy which will have long-lasting benefits to boost economic growth and productivity, as well as delivering against sustainability requirements - something identified in AIC's recently launched 'Sustainability Action Plan'."
Related content
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.
