Plans to help British farmers’ get a fairer reward for their high quality produce have been backed by Stuart Anderson, South Shropshire’s Conservatives Parliamentary Candidate. Stuart has welcomed a consultation on interventions to make food labelling clearer and fairer - with more information on where food comes from and how it is produced. Stuart said that the consultation will make it easier for shoppers to make informed decisions when purchasing food, while delivering on the commitment to back British farming.
There is currently no clear, consistent way to differentiate between products based on their animal welfare considerations. So, the consultation seeks to create a more transparent food system by requiring ‘method of production’ labelling on pork, chicken, and eggs. This includes a five-tier label for both domestic and imported products to differentiate between those that fall below, meet, or exceed baseline UK animal welfare regulations, some of the highest in the world - with dairy, beef, and sheep meat kept under review. The consultation also asks whether it should be mandatory to state the origin of meat, seafood, and dairy products outside of the home on menus in cafes and restaurants - giving access to the same information while dining out as when cooking at home.
Stuart welcomed the proposals, which he said will ensure that people have better information about the food they eat and can make choices that reflect their values. This will support farmers meeting or exceeding UK welfare regulations by ensuring they are better recognised and rewarded by the market. It will also unlock untapped market demand for higher welfare products by incentivising farmers to transition to improved welfare practices and to rear animals to higher standards.
The consultation forms part of the Government’s wider work to make food labelling informative, consistent, and accessible. It follows evidence which shows that British consumers want to buy high-quality food but it can be difficult to clearly identify where food comes from and how it is produced. Farmers are also disadvantaged if their higher production standards are not clear to consumers.
Stuart Anderson said: “Shropshire’s farmers proudly produce food that meets and often exceeds our world-leading animal welfare and environmental standards. I want to ensure that they receive a fairer reward for doing so. That’s why I welcome this consultation on clearer food labelling, including providing better information on method of production and country of origin. This will make it easier for consumers to make informed decisions when purchasing food, delivering on our commitment to back British farming.”
Environment Secretary Steve Barclay said: “This government backs British farmers, who work hard to produce food to world-leading standards and maintain our nation’s food security. British consumers want to buy their produce, but too often products made to lower standards abroad aren’t clearly labelled to tell them apart. That is why I want to make labelling showing where and how food is produced fairer and easier to understand – empowering consumers to make informed choices and rewarding our British farmers for producing high-quality, high-welfare food.”
The consultation was announced by the Environment Secretary at the Oxford Farming Conference in January, and supports the delivery of two commitments made in the Government’s Food Strategy; to improve and expand current mandatory method of production labelling requirements for animal welfare, and explore whether existing country of origin rules can be strengthened by mandating how and where origin information is displayed such as increasing the size of the country of origin text, or placing it on the front of the packet. These reforms would be implemented on a UK-wide basis. The consultation will run for eight weeks, closing at 23:45 on 7 May 2024.
