The Good Food Nation Bill lacks ambition in jobs, economic growth, environmental benefits, and investment needed.
The Good Food Nation Bill as it currently stands is insufficient in scale – it measures policies on the scale of millions and tens of millions of pounds when the true scale of the required transition will cost on the order of billions of pounds.
It is also insufficient in scope – it says far more about encouraging local food production than it does about reforming it to address its contribution to the climate emergency.
Whilst there is an obvious desire to increase the emphasis on local food production, the bill appears to do so largely on the grounds of reducing food miles for domestic consumers (which will have limited – though not negligible impact) and, paradoxically, increasing exports as a form of “food diplomacy”.
Scotland’s current agricultural sector appears to be significantly unbalanced compared to at least some of Scotland’s neighbours and there is certainly scope to invest in encouraging more people to work Scotland’s land in a manner that could be worth tens of thousands of jobs.
The emphasis on reducing food miles should be shifted to “how” food is produced rather than merely “where” it comes from but within this, there should be further emphasis on “what” Scotland can do specifically to minimise damage to the environment (perhaps to “Less Than Zero” through regenerative farming techniques) and maximise the quality and diversity of Scottish food produce.
Most importantly, the Scottish Government must properly cost the required transition. The Good Food Nation Bill contains laudable principles and targets but runs a very significant risk of falling into the same trap that has plagued other Scottish climate policies and forgetting that setting a target is not the same as reaching a goal and that a missed target – no matter how high it is set – is the same as failure