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Food 2030: Towards a Redefinition of Food? A Commentary on the New United Kingdom Government Food Strategy
Author(s) -
MARSDEN TERRY
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
the political quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.373
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1467-923X
pISSN - 0032-3179
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-923x.2010.02096.x
Subject(s) - food security , sustainability , government (linguistics) , context (archaeology) , food systems , face (sociological concept) , position (finance) , political science , politics , food policy , economics , business , sociology , law , agriculture , finance , geography , social science , ecology , linguistics , philosophy , archaeology , biology
The British government published its new food strategy in January 2010, entitled ‘Food 2030: How We Get There’. This emerges out of a considerable amount of policy activity and debate since the sharp rises in food prices during 2007–2008. This demonstrated the need both to now have an explicit food policy, and to position this as a goal across various government departments. In addition, it is recognised that food security and hunger are key global concerns. How does the strategy face up to the arrival of these new and combined challenges associated with the need to produce more food sustainably and to allocate it more fairly? Clearly, we are in a period of new productivism with regard to trying to solve national and international food security and sustainability issues. Yet this strategy misses an opportunity to stimulate a new strategic approach in enhancing and developing the United Kingdom's food supply system albeit in its international context. We need more governmental and political innovation and imagination if we are to meet these challenges. The new food strategy may come to represent the start of this process.