Laura Sandys MP calls for Cross Government Food Security Group

In an article that is to appear in the Kent on Sunday this weekend, Laura Sandys, MP for South Thanet and Sandwich, calls for the Coalition Government to establish a cross departmental working group on Food Security’ to view access to food as central to Britain’s wider national security.

Laura, who sits on the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee, has written the article in a bid to draw attention to one of the long term threats facing the country.

Discussing food security, Laura said: “A rapidly growing population globally, food price hikes, possible reduction in international trade and the loss of productive land due to sea level rises, will all have an impact on access to food domestically. For too long we have been avoiding one of the biggest threats to this country, deluded by cheap food prices, importing over 70% of what is on our supermarket shelves, and dismissing the calls from UK farmers and fishermen to focus more on national food production. Food insecurity is a crisis emerging slowly but one that will impact our shores and our citizens sooner rather than later.”

“We need to build into our long term planning the impact of food price rises, we must increase domestic production, invest in new technologies and attract some of the highest calibre individuals to the sector to mitigate the impact of food insecurity. While under the Labour Government, food security languished low down on the agenda, I am very pleased that the Coalition has started to show a greater willingness to address Britain’s food security. However I urge the Government to seriously consider the need for a cross departmental Food Security group to coordinate the national and international dimensions of the issue and ensure coordinated action.”