Ukraine War: UK Food Security Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Lord Curry of Kirkharle
Main Page: Lord Curry of Kirkharle (Crossbench - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Curry of Kirkharle's debates with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Ukraine War: UK Food Security
Lord Curry of Kirkharle Excerpts(2 years, 8 months ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Lord Benyon (Con)
I do not have time to go through the long list of the many measures we are taking to support families at this time. For example, we are providing £35 million to support schools in disadvantaged areas to provide breakfast, and Healthy Start food vouchers are increasing from £3.10 to £4.25. The reasons why people have to access food banks are many and varied. The issue requires a cross-government approach, looking at all sectors of expenditure; we are working across government to do that.
Lord Curry of Kirkharle (CB)
My Lords, I too pay tribute to Lord Plumb, who was a father figure to many of us who are involved in agriculture today. I have a very simple question for the Minister. During the passage of the Environment Bill, the Government refused to accept that food security was a public good. In the light of the global crisis and inflation, can the Minister confirm that food security is now regarded as a public good?