UK Looks at Own Food Future

The Cabinet Office of the UK government has released a report that looks at trends in food consumption and agricultural markets with an eye towards developing a national food strategy. The report, entitled “Food Matters: Towards a Strategy for the 21st Century,” was produced with the contributions from Outsights, a British strategic management consulting firm specializing scenario planning, horizon scanning, and leadership development.
The report highlights a key trends and challenges:

• Consumers in the UK are increasingly interested in food that is of better quality, healthier, and more environmentally friendly. At the same time, however, they demand food that is affordable and convenient.
• Recent significant increases in global commodity prices have brought what is probably a permanent end to the long-term decline in food prices and is hitting the poor the hardest.
• Inconsistent adherence to nutritional guidelines is contributing to poor health and premature deaths among UK citizens.
• Food production and consumption plays a substantial role in environmental degradation, contributing about 18 percent of UK greenhouse gas emissions.

In light of these trends, the report offers recommendations for key actions to be undertaken by the UK government:

• Providing consumers with integrated advice and information about how food affects health and the environment.
• Recognizing the influence of community organizations on food habits and perspectives; and, conducting targeted healthy eating campaigns.
• Focusing food safety measures on the points of highest risk in the chain.
• Helping to reduce distortions in agricultural markets and increase productivity in developing nations in order to ensure fair prices.
• Continuing to participate in the international response to the food crisis.
• Developing a greater understanding of how the world food system must be improved in order to adapt to and mitigate climate change.

In addition to resource management, check out the other research being conducted under the auspices of Outsights’ “21 Drivers for the 21st Century” project.