Cross Party Food Group 12 Nov 2008

In particular, he reviewed the differences in Scotland where consumers shop more often and buy more convenience food. Scottish households buy more wine, spirits, chilled ready meals, chocolate confectionary, cooked meats and fresh beef than their English counterparts. In Scotland, fewer shoppers are purchasing a lower volume of fresh fruit as we move into 2008.

The health message does not seem to resonate with Scottish consumers – it is not a top priority when making choices.
In considering how to change behaviour, Mark thought that buying locally was becoming even more important to the consumer and that he felt children and families were more open to change which should be presented in small achievable steps. The link with emotions should also be addressed
Mark Thomson's slide presentation is linked below

Realistic Sustainable Solutions to Link Producers, Processors and Consumers

James Graham (SAOS) emphasised the need to acknowledge that we have entered a new era of food supply with some enormous challenges. We may have become blasé about reports of a food crisis, because we have still been able to get what we want in the shops. But it looks increasingly likely that the rising costs of food we have all experienced are just a foretaste of what is to come. To feed a rapidly growing global population, we are entering an era when we will need to produce much more food, on more land, with more expensive inputs.

We need to remove protectionism, but can't leave food production entirely to the free market -regional market stabilisers will need to be replaced with global market stabilisers to enable food production to be planned over the medium term, not according to short term market movements driven by speculators.

There will be a need to produce more food on more land for a rapidly growing population whilst preserving resources. It is important that local supply is addressed, not least because local supply will become part of food security. Food security should be top of every government's agenda.
He reviewed the role of supermarkets, the need to have the scale and efficiencies of their supply chains for accessibility and affordability and noted that some of the budget supermarkets were opening in areas where other big players had chosen not to.

However, he recognised that they would not reach everyone and proposed that Community Partnership Agriculture could be a way forward. These partnerships would directly join up primary production with local community needs and objectives in contrast to the current corporate plc shareholder system. These could build on the current network of community co-ops in Scotland and, as an example; he cited the West Lothian Food and Health Development (WELFHED).

Open debate
The meeting was then opened up to the floor for discussion and questions for the speakers.

Patrick Harvie (MSP) asked about the role of independent retailers. Mark Thomson responded that he felt local specialists such as the butcher and fishmonger were not doing badly in the current climate as the consumer was still looking for expertise and the personal touch.

Patrick Harvie was also interested in the panel's views on local initiatives such as that in Comrie where the local community are becoming more involved in growing their own food. He thought it was important that Scottish and local government looked for opportunities to grow food on land not used at present for other purposes.

David Atkinson thought that anything that reconnected the consumer with the land and food was important and it was important that communities felt “part of it”. James Graham agreed that it was a good idea particularly in raising consumer interest but cautioned that there were difficulties. There were not models there for rolling out and these should be worked on now. It was noted that the Glasgow Community Garden project were using decorative space to grow food to get people thinking about these issues.

John Scott warned that with 250 million acres a year being lost due to desertification then simply growing food in our backyards would not cover the scale of the problem.

Phil Thomas (QMS/SSPO) thought that more land should be available for allotments where there was a good demand. Alternative sources of land should be found -for example around hospitals.

Charlotte Maltin (SFAC) said that skills were a problem. Farmers were getting older and community gardens needed mentors to help educate people and grow the movement.

Juliet Wilson (Fed City Farms and Community Gardens) said that they had received money for a mentoring scheme and it had been very successful. She agreed there was a lack of skills especially for small scale enterprises that did not have a horticulturist.

Her main problem was finding out who owned the land and the transient nature of the population in some parts, for instance, students, where it was difficult to maintain interest.

Jim Hume MSP asked about the role of local food procurement by public bodies. It was important that the Scottish Government and Councils understood how to interpret the EU Directive and word tenders accordingly. James Graham agreed that the policy needed clarifying. There were sometimes problems as to whether growing local food came under farming or food.

Wendy Barrie (Scottish Food Guide) outlined the work on school meals in East Ayrshire. This had originated with the Healthy Choices Award and moved through to organic food and the Food for Life programme. Wendy acknowledged the role of Robin Gourlay and the need for a champion to push the idea and knock heads together. She was now working with St Georges School in Edinburgh.

Wendy noted following the earlier question she felt that independent retailers did well because their customers were loyal. She did not think supermarkets inspired the same loyalty. Her concern was that when food is regarded as a commodity there is a move away from health and national pride in the produce and also deskilling.

Phil Thomas cautioned that the food distribution model from the former Soviet Union had not been that good for the consumer either. It should be recognised that supermarkets did deliver consumer choice (maybe limited) and did a good job distributing a vast amount of food.

Bill Gray (CFHS) reminded the Group of the healthyliving Neighourhood Shops programme which worked with retailers to increase fruit and vegetable consumption. This was now moving into working with community initiatives and the common supply chain problems experienced by both small retailers and community food initiatives was also being studied.

Douglas Scott (SFMTA) noted that when discussing independent retailers/supermarkets it was essential to consider the role of planning.

Lydia Wilkie (FSA) noted that the word 'local' had not been defined and meant different things to different people.

Christine Fraser (Dundee College) said that although the EU had lifted a ban on oddly shaped fruit and vegetables, it had been suggested that retailers would still not sell them.

Paul Mayfield (SAC) answered that this was because the consumer would not buy them.

Antonia Ineson (NHS Lothian) said that it was important the food policy linked in with the NHS and such initiatives as the healthy weight strategy and physical activity. The opportunity must be taken to link these up.

James Graham responded that the Food and Health Alliance Steering Committee did have broad links with health and farming but he agreed it was difficult to get people to break out of these silos.

Annie Anderson (Food and Drink Leadership Forum) asked whether local food was always environmentally sustainable. She cited the case of tomatoes being grown locally but in heated greenhouses.

Phil Thomas felt that for most product categories there was an advantage to local production but he appreciated that it was difficult to compare transport of low carbon produced goods versus no transport of high carbon produced goods. He felt people used different measurements at different times.

Annie Anderson agreed that sustainability meant different things to different people and this needed bottoming out.

Ian Shankland (LCFHP) pointed out in discussing the environmental impact of local food, for his groups spend of £200 000 he could only source 15% of LCFHP needs locally with concomitant reduced carbon emission.

Paul Mayfield said it was important to think differently and gave the example of sugar beet producers in Norfolk using heat generated from waste to grow tomatoes.

John Scott agreed with this and said there should be more mixed farming systems so one by-product sustained another product.

William Fergusson (LANTRA) pointed out that the farming industry had no plans to increase food production; in fact, it was the reverse. Farmers were leaving the industry and they were not being replaced. There was not the capacity to produce enough local food if there was an increased demand. This needed to be addressed.

He also thought good practice should be joined up such as rural skills being taught in schools and crofters in the Highlands and Islands network looking for different routes to market.

James Graham said that it was important to look at the macro market where food was a commodity and there would be volatility. He stressed that for the micro market he was not advocating a 'Soviet' model. A completely new model should be developed that integrated farming and the community business.

John Scott asked if we were getting to the stage where we would need to consider reintroducing buffer stocks / intervention stocks.

Martin Meteyard raised the issue of food waste and whether this was declining in the current climate.

Phil Thomas thought it was too soon to tell but thought that even if it had gone down, a vast amount was still being produced. Any policy that addressed shortages and decreased waste was win/win. He gave the example of the EU legislation that had stopped a lot of food waste being fed to pigs. This had been a low cost way of feeding pigs. He felt that this decision should be revisited as he thought swill feeding should be allowed, provided it was properly controlled.

Christine Fraser (Dundee College) commented that in her view Best Before and Use By dates made a significant contribution to unnecessary food waste. She suggested that food manufacturers should be encouraged to be more flexible with regards to these dates and make more use of microbiological criteria rather than quality criteria when establishing the appropriate dates.

Update on Working Group on Improving Food access Infra structure Serving Disadvantaged Communities
Mary Lawton reported that a letter had been sent to the National Food Discussion together with the scoping study explaining that that the proposal had received full Cross Party endorsement.

Bill Gray (CFHS) noted that this work had been picked up by communities in Glasgow who were now looking at the potential for local network development. A study has been commissioned and they should have some results by the end of January and he would be happy to share this.
He acknowledged the important role of the Cross Party Group in moving this issue forward and practical results were now coming through.

Angela Moohan (WELFEHD) reported on reported on the setting up of Eatwell Scotland. This was a social enterprise being set up by seven community food networks. Although there would be initial capital and revenue funding, it was intended that it should become financially viable over the short to medium through trading. Building on the local community food work it was aimed to bring real supply chain benefits in terms of ethical trading, reducing food miles and economies of scale.

Date of the Next Meeting
The next meeting would be held on Wednesday December 10th at 5.30 in Conference Room 4. The topic would be Work stream 2 -'To work with the food and drink industry to enable and support consumers to make healthier and more sustainable choices'. The Cross Party on Obesity would be contacted to see if they wished to have a joint meeting.
ACTION: ML/FM
There was also a meeting planned for February 25th on Work stream 3 – 'Celebrating and enhancing Scotland's reputation as a Land of Food and Drink'.