Prime Minister is set to urge families to buy British as he launches his food strategy but ditches ‘nanny state’ junk food ban
- Johnson to launch food strategy tomorrow with a focus on homegrown produce
- Proposals to introduce sugar and salt levies will be dropped as too ‘nanny state’
- George Eustice will ask consumers to support Britain’s farmers by buying locally sourced food
Boris Johnson will this week rally families to buy British as he rejects calls for a ‘nanny state’ junk food ban.
The Prime Minister is due to launch his food strategy tomorrow alongside Environment Secretary George Eustice, with a focus on boosting homegrown produce in the face of spiralling global prices.
He will also reveal that proposals to introduce sugar and salt levies – recommended in a review by Henry Dimbleby, co-founder of the Leon restaurant chain – have been dropped. A Government source said the policies were ‘too ‘nanny state’, too un-Conservative, and there is an even stronger case for not doing them now that we are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis’.
Mr Eustice will also issue a call to arms for consumers to support Britain’s farmers by buying locally sourced food.
Boris Johnson is due to launch his food strategy tomorrow alongside Environment Secretary George Eustice, with a focus on boosting homegrown produce in the face of spiralling global prices
Mr Eustice, seen left with Boris Johnson at the Royal Cornwall Show & Tiverton Honiton By Election, will also issue a call to arms for consumers to support Britain’s farmers by buying locally sourced food
Sources said that the strategy will particularly focus on maintaining and boosting our food security following the impact on global food supplies of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as the jump in inflation, which is expected to exceed 10 per cent this year. Government sources said that the food strategy White Paper includes plans for half of the official food procurement to be spent on a mix of local foods and food certified to higher production standards but likely to be imported.
Insiders said the details of how this will be split are yet to be worked through, but stressed the intention is to focus on locally grown food. Sources said: ‘Public sector food should be healthier, more sustainable and provided by a diverse range of suppliers.’
The food strategy White Paper includes plans for half of the official food procurement to be spent on a mix of local foods and food certified to higher production standards but likely to be imported. Pictured: Boris Johnson buying a bottle of wine at the Royal Cornwall show at Whitecross near Wadebridge
The Environment Secretary is expected to say: ‘The public sector must lead by example when it comes to supporting local suppliers and local economic growth.
‘We intend to consult on Government buying standards and work towards 50 per cent of food expenditure being on food produced locally or to higher standards.’
The Dimbleby review’s recommendations to guarantee farm subsidies until 2029 and invest £1 billion in innovation have been dropped. However, Ministers are expected to boost support for plant-based meat subsidies and lab-grown meat.
By next year, they will also consult on how to improve on and expand animal welfare labelling.
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