Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 22 March 2022
22 Mar 2022 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
I thank the committee for its extensive gathering of evidence to inform its stage 1 report. Like the committee, Labour is happy to support the principles of the bill at stage 1, but we believe that it needs to be significantly strengthened.
I begin by paying tribute to the members of the Scottish Food Coalition—the trade unions and charities in the diverse alliance of civil society in Scotland, which has come together to fight for food justice. It recognises that, in a country with so much fine food and drink, plenty of land, plenty of sea and plenty of talented producers, there is no reason why we should not have plenty of good food for everyone. However, the reality is that too many people in Scotland are still going hungry or are reliant on food banks in order to eat. In the food and drink sector, far too many people are employed in jobs that are insecure and poorly paid. Too many agricultural practices continue to be incentivised by a Government support system despite their negative impact on our climate and wildlife—yet too many of our farmers and fishers cannot make a decent living.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Liam McArthur)
LD
The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-03704, in the name of Mairi Gougeon, on the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill. I invite members who wish t...
The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands (Mairi Gougeon)
SNP
Scotland began its journey to becoming a good food nation in 2014 with the publication of our national food and drink policy, which first set down the Govern...
Brian Whittle (South Scotland) (Con)
Con
The minister just said that Scotland has moved to being a good food nation, but how does that equate with the fact that Scotland is the second-most obese cou...
Mairi Gougeon
SNP
We certainly have moved forward but, as I will set out, the bill will provide a framework to underpin the work that we are doing and which we will undertake ...
Rachael Hamilton (Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con)
Con
The committee expected a proper response to the report at stage 1, and we were disappointed that we did not get it. We kept our side of the bargain by keepin...
Mairi Gougeon
SNP
I hope that the member appreciates that it is only fair that I give the report and all the work that has gone into it full and due consideration, which I am ...
Brian Whittle
Con
Will the member take an intervention?
Mairi Gougeon
SNP
Not at this point. However, I note that members concluded that the Government should consider how we might better reflect our high-level objectives in the b...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
Thank you very much, cabinet secretary. I advise members that we are quite tight for time, so interventions will probably have to be accommodated into speaki...
Beatrice Wishart (Shetland Islands) (LD)
LD
I am pleased to speak to the committee’s stage 1 report on the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill this afternoon, although I am not pleased that the reason tha...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
Please bring your remarks to a close, Ms Wishart.
Beatrice Wishart
LD
I had something to say about the financial memorandum costs. Suffice it to say that the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill offers a real opportunity to transfo...
Rachael Hamilton (Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con)
Con
The Scottish National Party is finally introducing its promised Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill, six years late, after having promised it in its 2016 and 20...
Jim Fairlie (Perthshire South and Kinross-shire) (SNP)
SNP
Does the member not recognise that poverty is as big a driver of food inequality as anything else?
Rachael Hamilton
Con
Of course it is a driver. However, when I posted about education on my Twitter account, Mr Fairlie, you said that you fully supported that, so I am surprised...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
Speak through the chair, please, Ms Hamilton.
Rachael Hamilton
Con
Thank you, Presiding Officer. You Can Cook, which is based in Peebles in the Borders, offers classes, demonstrations, talks and workshops on food and health...
Colin Smyth (South Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
I thank the committee for its extensive gathering of evidence to inform its stage 1 report. Like the committee, Labour is happy to support the principles of ...
Jim Fairlie
SNP
I simply do not understand the member saying that the farming system is continuing to degrade our countryside, given that there are numerous schemes to help ...
Colin Smyth
Lab
If Mr Fairlie thinks that the current scheme is so perfect, I do not understand why the Government has promised to bring forward legislation to change it, wh...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
You need to conclude now.
Colin Smyth
Lab
We have a long way to go to make sure that the bill is a bold good food nation bill, but we support its principles and we will work with the Government and a...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
We move to the open debate. 15:43
Jenni Minto (Argyll and Bute) (SNP)
SNP
The Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill is the first piece of legislation that I have been involved in, and I thank the committee clerks and my fellow committee...
Rachael Hamilton
Con
Will the member take an intervention?
Jenni Minto
SNP
I will not. Serving attractive food in schools and other institutions will allow us to offer many more people the opportunity of eating together and sharing...
Maurice Golden (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
The Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill touches several different policy areas. Today, I will focus my comments on the bill’s potential for driving progress on ...
The Minister for Environment and Land Reform (Màiri McAllan)
SNP
I invite the member to reflect on his point about food security, given that it is his party, in government in the UK, that is signing post-Brexit trade deals...
Maurice Golden
Con
I am quite surprised by that intervention, because every part of the UK is set to benefit from those trade agreements. In 2020, Scotland exported £126 millio...
Mairi Gougeon
SNP
Will the member take an intervention on that point?