It’s hard not to be impressed by this year’s Programme for Government. There’s a definite green tinge and a renewed focus on getting stuff done as hopefully we emerge from the pandemic. When it comes to food, it’s a jigsaw puzzle with bits and pieces scattered across
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In many ways, the incorporation of human rights treaties in Scots law is the most ambitious and far-reaching part of the agenda for the new Scottish Parliament. The new law will not just incorporate economic, social and cultural rights: it will also strengthen protection against discrimination on
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The Independent Review of the National Food Strategy (the Review) was published today. It is recognised as the first comprehensive review of England’s food system in 75 years. We welcome the increased political and public attention and scrutiny of the challenges in England’s food system. Many of
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The UK Government is planning to reduce regulation around gene-edited livestock and crops in England, arguing that this technology is essentially no different from natural breeding and should not be regulated the same way as older methods of genetic modification. While this does not immediately affect the
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The UN COP26 climate talks held in Glasgow this year ‘must tackle food systems’ to get world on track for net-zero. More than thirty NGOs, leading academics, local governments and industry bodies have written to COP26 President Alok Sharma asking him to bump food systems up the
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On Monday 14th December representatives from governments around the world will meet to launch the Glasgow Declaration on Food and Climate. This initiative, hosted by Nourish Scotland and the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems, aims to put food at the heart of the climate
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The return of the Westminster Agriculture Bill to the Commons in the next few days is a pivotal moment – for Brexit, for Scotland and in many ways for democracy. The latest Which? Poll out today shows 94% of people want to maintain high food standards and 77%
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It’s natural to put ‘food’ into the search box and see what this 135 page document says. But that would miss some of the most important messages. First, of course, the incorporation into Scots law of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This has
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The UK Government is currently consulting through a White Paper on how the UK internal market should operate after Brexit. Like much of the conversation about Brexit, it’s a political tussle pretending to be about economics. Devolution gives the Scottish Parliament and Government powers to legislate on
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At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic our food supply chains were forced to flex beyond what many thought possible, and whilst they were temporarily disrupted during the pandemic, exacerbated by media-fed anxiety about shortages, food continued to flow. Although this shows a certain robustness and ability
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