ACS

In its submission to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Select Committee Inquiry on Food Security, entitled ‘Securing Food Supplies up to 2050: the Challenges for the UK’, ACS has called for Government action to ensure effective and sustainable competition in the grocery supply chain.

The inquiry was launched in response to rising food prices in 2008, as well as discussions during the June 2008 summit on World Food Security, where the UN Secretary General announced that world food production would have to increase by 50% by 2030 to meet the demand caused by population increases and rising prosperity.

ACS Chief Executive James Lowman said: “Food security is a vital issue. This Inquiry comes at a time when topics such as food prices, the environmental impact of food production and oil prices have been high on the agenda. If the Government acts on the recommendations that ACS has made today then it will help safeguard the country against food supply issues that may arise in the future.

ACS, representing 33,000 local shops throughout the UK in its response, focused on food security, food delivery and local produce.

The ACS submission makes the following recommendations;

• Implementation of the Competition Commission’s recommendation for the creation of an effective Ombudsman that proactively enforces the Grocery Supplier Code of Practice is vital to food security.
• Better access to information about the local suppliers in their region, as well as advice on stock, display and marketing local produce
• Introduce targeted financial incentives to mitigate the initial risk of making a loss when retailers first stock local produce.
• A robust and consistently enforced policy to prevent harmful out of town retail developments.
• Encouraging the public to shop in local shops through sufficient town centre parking, local transport, and developing strong guidance around town centre first planning policy.
• Develop an action plan to deal with food distribution in the case of a fuel shortage, prioritising supplies to local shops.