Writing in his blog, NFU Scotland president Martin Kennedy said that the pace of the work to show the direction of travel for the Scottish food industry is “glacial”, adding that the industry is “desperate to know what is happening.”
Kennedy said that food, to a large degree has become “a product that has lost all respect for what it delivers in terms of health, economic output and environmental delivery.” He added that this perception of food is not only “extremely sad but it’s also extremely dangerous.”
He said: “Unless we change our views now, at a time when we can make a difference, on how we value the one thing we cannot do without, then in the not too distant future history will tell us we got it completely wrong.”
According to Kennedy, the UK’s exit from the EU has meant that Scotland has the power to design, implement and deliver policy for the first time in two generations.
He added: “This is why the industry must be at the heart of the discussions because, without us, […] there won’t be a cat in hell’s chance of government reaching their targets on wider environmental goals.”
Kennedy forwarded that “the responsibility” of the Scottish government and industry must be to ensure farmers and crofters are enabled to deliver on high quality food production first and foremost and, as a result, deliver on the climate and biodiversity challenges the country faces.
He went on to say that this approach “may be at odds with some other parts of the UK, but it focuses on a long-term vision for a profitable, secure and sustainable future for Scottish agriculture and is one that others could learn from. “
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
