Food Supply

(asked on 20th May 2020) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government plans to formally recognise food security as a public good.


Answered by
Victoria Prentis Portrait
Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
This question was answered on 8th June 2020

Food security is not deemed to be a public good that necessitates public provision. A public good refers to a good or service that when consumed does not reduce its availability to others, and of which no one can be deprived.

The resilience of food supply lies with the food industry. The Government's role is to regulate and support the industry, including on contingency planning and in the event of an incident that has the potential to disrupt supply.

We are including a new requirement in the Agriculture Bill for the UK Government to report on food security to Parliament at least once every five years, demonstrating the importance we place on this subject. The report will contain information on food supply including the role of strong domestic production alongside diverse sources of supply.

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