Policy: Britain

2001: DEFRA
Formation of the UK Government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, responsible for “safeguarding our natural environment, supporting our world leading food and farming industry, and sustaining a thriving rural economy”.

2009: Scotland’s National Food and Drink Policy
The policy aimed to “promote Scotland’s sustainable economic growth by ensuring that the Scottish Government’s focus in relation to food and drink, and … [its] work with Scotland’s food and drink industry, addresses quality, health and wellbeing, and environmental sustainability, recognising the need for access and affordability at the same time.”

2010: Food Research and Innovation Strategy
This strategy provided “an overarching government framework to facilitate a more coordinated approach to food research and innovation across the UK.” It put current programmes “within the context of broader goals” and highlighted “examples of past successes and good practice.”

2011: Global Food and Farming Futures
This project explored the “increasing pressures on the global food system between now and 2050, highlighting “decisions that policy makers need to take today, and in the years ahead, to ensure that a global population rising to 9 billion or more can be fed in a fair and sustainable way.”