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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will officially define food production as a Public Good; and if he will make a statement.

Supporting domestic food production is a priority for the Government.

The Agriculture Act 2020 includes powers to enable the Government to support farmers to invest in long-term food security by investing in the foundations of food production: healthy soil; water; and biodiverse ecosystems. Through the legal powers in the Act, the Government is also providing funding to farmers to be more productive and improve the health and welfare of their animals.

In providing this financial assistance, the Act requires the Secretary of State to have regard to the need to encourage the production of food by producers in England and its production by them in an environmentally sustainable way.

Recognising the importance of food production and security of supply, in the Agriculture Act 2020, the Government made a commitment to produce an assessment of our food security at least once every three years. The first UK Food Security Report was published in December 2021. This report provides a crucial evidence base for ongoing policy work, including around the Food Strategy.

Last month, the Government set out a package of measures to support farmers respond to some of the secondary impacts we are seeing due to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine.

In the coming weeks, the Food Strategy White Paper will set out the Government's ambition for the food system: to support exceptional British food and drink producers, and to protect and enhance the nation's health and the natural environment for generations to come.