Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of
the conclusions of the report by Henry Dimbleby National Food
Strategy: Part One, published on 29 July; when they will publish
their response; and what steps they intend to take to implement
the recommendations of the report.
(Con)
I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order
Paper, and I refer to my interests in the register.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs () (Con)
My Lords, the Government have already acted on the
recommendations in Henry Dimbleby’s part 1 report with the
announcement of the Covid winter support package and the
recommendations on trade last year, which included putting the
Trade and Agriculture Commission on to a statutory footing. We
thank Henry Dimbleby for his independent review, including his
part 2 report, published this year, which we will consider in the
forthcoming government food strategy to be published in early
2022.
(Con)
It was an excellent report, and the national food strategy
advocates upholding our own high standards in food production and
that imports should meet these same standards. Given the fall in
our self-sufficiency in food and the fact that tenant farmers
will be in breach of their agricultural tenancies if they apply
for any environmental schemes, will the Government ensure that
these high standards of animal welfare and food safety that our
farmers meet are met also in imported food products agreed under
any free trade deals, to prevent substandard imports from putting
our hill farmers in particular out of business?
(Con)
I think I can give my noble friend some assurance here. Tenant
farmers will be able to take out agreements under the sustainable
farming incentive scheme, which begins being progressively rolled
out next year. The Tenant Farmers Association has not raised any
issues about tenancies preventing tenant farmers from entering
into new environmental land management schemes. My colleague
, the Agriculture
Minister, met with the chief executive of the Tenant Farmers
Association this week, and my noble friend’s concerns were not
raised.
(Lab)
My Lords, the food strategy emphasised the importance of free
school meals for all disadvantaged children. Will the Government
therefore commit now to making permanent, and widening, the
welcome temporary concession which extended free school meals to
children in some families with no recourse to public funds, as
called for by the Children’s Commissioner for England, the Food
Foundation and many others?
(Con)
My Lords, the Government encourage all schools to promote healthy
eating and provide healthy, tasty and nutritious food and drink.
Compliance with the Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014
is mandatory for all maintained schools, and efforts are always
made to make sure that children from low-income families have
access to good, nutritious school meals.
(Con)
My Lords, more than half the calories the average person in the
UK eats come from ultra-processed foods. Recent research has
linked these foods to early death, poor health, weight gain and
obesity. The national food strategy makes a clear connection
between bad diet and poor health. One of its four strategic
objectives is to escape the junk-food cycle in order to protect
the NHS. While the move towards eating less meat is welcome for
the health of both the individual and the planet, could my noble
friend confirm that a vegan or vegetarian diet made up of mainly
ultra-processed foods is just as bad for the individual’s health
as for everyone else?
(Con)
My noble friend is very knowledgeable on these matters, and she
is absolutely right. Soya grown where rainforests used to exist
and which may have also been the subject of many processes to
make it palatable will be, by contrast, worse for the environment
and the individual than locally produced meat from grass-fed
animals that may be not only part of a healthy, balanced diet but
good for the environment.
(LD)
My Lords, I draw attention to my interests as set out in the
register. Given the Climate Change Committee’s advice that we
will need to reduce meat consumption as part of efforts to tackle
climate change, will Defra’s response to the national food
strategy include a commitment to sustainable alternative
proteins, including cultivated meat, and will it commit to
streamlining the novel foods regulatory approval process to
reflect the urgency of our need to find alternatives?
(Con)
The Government can encourage people to eat sensibly and promote
good, balanced and healthy diets. The Government are not going to
tell people what they should eat but will give them the
information they need to have a healthy, balanced diet and
provide the means by which vulnerable groups can have this. This
will be in the food strategy, which will be published next
year.
(Con)
My Lords, I am very excited by the imminent publication of the
food strategy. How many meetings has my noble friend had with his
counterparts in the Department for Education? I am sure he agrees
with me that the food strategy is an education issue. When he
answered the earlier question and talked about mandatory
standards, I am sure he also agrees that we need enforcement of
those standards, as only 40% of schools currently meet them.
(Con)
My noble friend makes a very good point. I personally have not
had any such meetings, but my colleague , who is the Minister
responsible for this area, has had meetings across government and
will continue to do so. He is absolutely right that the mandatory
standards are in those regulations, and the Government are
constantly trying to find ways to make sure that they are fully
complied with.
(CB)
My Lords, today there is another depressing result from the
national child measurement programme, which pointed out that
there was a 4.5% increase during the pandemic in the proportion
of children aged four to five who are obese. Obviously, the
existing government obesity strategy is really not working, which
is why we need the food plan to be implemented. Assuming that we
publish a White Paper in response to the strategy, will that lead
to a food Bill? That is what we urgently need.
(Con)
The food strategy will be in the form of a White Paper, which is
usually the precursor to legislation, and this House will be kept
fully informed about this. The obesity strategy has been
developed through a huge amount of work, not least by outside
bodies such as the Centre for Social Justice. It is there to help
people already living with obesity, including funding weight
management services, but also to create a food environment and
culture that makes it easy for everyone, regardless of their
circumstances, to live a healthier life.
of Ullock (Lab)
We strongly support the recommendations that the report makes to
ensure better access to healthy food for those on the lowest
incomes. Can the Minister confirm that the Government will adopt
without delay the calls to increase eligibility to free school
meals and the value of healthy start vouchers as well as the
extension of the holiday activities and food programme?
(Con)
I entirely understand the points the noble Baroness makes. These
are matters for other departments in government. We are working
with them as part of our response to this important piece of work
by Henry Dimbleby in the development of the food strategy. It
will not just be something produced by my department; it will
draw in all those issues from across government.
(CB)
My Lords, a key recommendation of the Dimbleby report was that
meaningful standards should be applied to imported food,
consistent with our own domestic standards. Can the Minister
confirm that the Government will support that recommendation? If
so, how will it be applied retrospectively to the free trade
deals with Australia and New Zealand?
(Con)
My Lords, the UK Government have made a clear commitment that, in
all our trade negotiations, we will not compromise on our high
environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards. All
agricultural products imported into the UK, including under free
trade agreements, must continue to comply with our existing
import requirements.
(Con)
My Lords, the recent pandemic has demonstrated the severe urgency
of cracking down on obesity in this country. There are thousands
of people in ICUs with infectious diseases such as Covid, simply
because they are too overweight. We must do something to address
this national characteristic. What will the Minister do to assure
us that he will take the steps necessary to crack down on things
such as highly processed food? That would be an important first
step on this road.
(Con)
My noble friend has done much work in this field. The publication
Tackling Obesity: Empowering Adults and Children to Live
Healthier Lives takes forward a wide range of measures that all
contribute towards reducing excess calorie consumption. These
include, for example, measures to restrict the advertising of
high fat, sugar and salt products. It is estimated that these
measures could remove up to 7.2 billion calories from children’s
diets in the United Kingdom over the coming years.
(Lab)
My Lords, for the avoidance of doubt, will the Minister indicate
a specific date when the Government will produce their White
Paper in response to the Dimbleby report, and the timescale for
the subsequent legislation? Will this legislation be accompanied
by resources in a cross-departmental way to implement the
recommendations in the report, including access to free school
meals for many children who are totally disadvantaged,
particularly during the pandemic?
(Con)
The second part of Henry Dimbleby’s report was published in July
and the Government made a commitment to respond within six
months. The noble Baroness knows that our department is running
quite hot on food issues at the moment, but I have heard nothing
to suggest that this timetable will not be met.
