The result of the forthcoming EU referendum will have profound implications for the future of the UK (and other nations) – and of its food and farming sectors. In 2014 €3.95 billion inEU funding was spent on farming, and yet how and what we grow and eat has hardly featured in debates about ‘Brexit’ or ‘Bremain’ so far.
The March 2016 meeting of the Business Forum considered how to make the most of either outcome of the EU referendum for the future of food and farming. Participants – including senior food company executives and farmers – considered what alternative farm support mechanisms might look ike if the UK left the EU, and how tthey might be reformed if we remain.
We are grateful to our speakers Alan Swinbank (Emeritus Professor of Agricultural Economics, University of Reading), Martin Nesbit (senior Fellow and Head of Environment and Climate Governance Programme at IEEP), and Pete Ritchie (Director of Nourish Scotland, organic farmer and member of the Food Ethics Council). The event was chaired by Dan Crossley, Executive Director of the Food Ethics Council.
You can download the report here.