Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 15 July 2014, Official Report, column 611W, on Biofuels, what steps her Department has taken to embed the importance of food security across her Department's policies; and what research her Department supports in this area.

Through business planning Defra is able to ensure that food security is embedded as a priority objective across all relevant policy areas. For example, Defra’s policy to improve the openness of world markets will not only promote growth, but also ensure the diversity of the UK’s food supply. Pressing for reform of agricultural and trade policies will also contribute to future food security by increasing agricultural productivity and reducing inefficiencies.

In terms of research, the Government’s Agri-Tech Strategy, published last July, sets out our approach to helping improve global food supply while maximising the economic potential of the UK’s agri-food science base. This is on top of the more than £400 million a year the Government was already spending on research into different aspects of food security, funded by the Research Councils, Department for International Development and Devolved Administrations as well as Defra.