Britain has new people in government and a new kind of politics. As in every sector, farming and food businesses wonder what this will mean, even as new ministers and civil servants grapple with that question themselves.
The May 2010 meeting of the Business Forum, held 12 days after the election, focused on its implications for food security and sustainability. Would there be changes in institutional architecture? What would be the ideology behind the new government’s approach? Does it matter that such a high proportion of MPs are first-timers?
We are very grateful to our speakers: Thomas Lingard, Deputy Director of Green Alliance, and Adam Leyland, Editor of The Grocer. The chair was David Croft, Director of Conformance and Sustainability at Cadbury and a member of the Food Ethics Council.