Hansard

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 2021 manifestos.

We are all very proud of what Scotland produces. We export £6.3 billion-worth of food and drink annually, but we must do more to promote our produce at home.

I tuned in to Radio 4’s “The Food Programme” recently to listen to a piece on the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill. It highlighted why we are here debating the legislation today. Scotland has been branded the sick man of Europe because of our diet, with people regularly eating calorie-dense, nutrient-deficient foodstuffs and 66 per cent of our adult population estimated to be obese. According to current trends, by 2035 more than 480,000 people in Scotland will be living with diabetes. It is estimated that around 6.7 per cent of men and 4.2 per cent of women are living with chronic heart disease. We must urgently reverse those trends. It is therefore important that the bill has a purpose clause setting out the Government’s intentions.

The Scottish Food Coalition and others believe that we all have a right to food and that that right should be included in the bill. I am yet to be convinced that the cabinet secretary has addressed that. It will be interesting to see how the Bute house agreement reflects that intention in relation to forthcoming human rights legislation.

We have heard responses to the draft bill from a range of stakeholders. I thank them for their valuable input. Stakeholders have high expectations of the bill, and it is therefore incumbent on me and my colleagues in the RAINE Committee to ensure that we get this right.

The bill has been welcomed by many, but some say that it simply does not go far enough. We support the bill at stage 1. However, given the wealth of evidence and consideration in the RAINE Committee’s report, substantial revisions are required to ensure that it is fit for purpose.

First and foremost, there is an expectation that local authorities will need significant resources to deliver the good food nation plan. It was noted that the financial memorandum—which Beatrice Wishart did not have time to talk about—lacks detail in relation to the costs that are likely to fall to relevant authorities. If local authorities are expected to shoulder the weight of responsibility, the Government must recognise that its support should include access to information and advice to support the development of the plans, as well as financial resources.

I want to touch on the point of importance, which is reflected in the RAINE Committee’s report, that the bill should take account of the high-level objectives. In short, that is about the link between Scottish Government policy and the broad vision and ambitions for the good food nation policy.

I do not have time to touch on all the issues today, and I hope that my colleagues in the Scottish Conservatives and other colleagues on the RAINE Committee will cover other aspects. However, I want to say that farmers and food producers should be at the heart of Scottish procurement in order to support jobs, the environment, skills development and social impacts across Scotland.

Dave McKay of the Soil Association made the connection between food and farming clear when he said:

“We want to see our government join the dots between the interconnected climate, nature and dietary health crises.”

We all know that local multipliers mean that money that local authorities spend will be returned to the local economy and will have wide-ranging benefits and cost savings for local authorities. However, there is still a disconnect between local producers and the food that is served in hospitals, schools and prisons.

Locavore, which is a Scottish company, has made great strides in supplying local vegetables that are grown on three sites within 10 miles of Glasgow city centre. That is a good example. The committee heard from Mark Hunter of East Ayrshire Council that the local authority has very good links with the food sector in its area.

If we can get a good food education programme in schools, we can support the health agenda and, obviously, the economic development of our local community. Furthermore, there is an appreciation and understanding that a whole-food system, from gate to plate and back, is needed. We understand that, although several public sector organisations want to support local procurement, the budget constrains them, which means that it is simply not possible for them to do that. The Government must address that, and I would like to see more detail in the financial memorandum to reflect that point.

As I said, food education is vital. As noted in the committee’s stage 1 report,

“there are several social factors impacting people’s ability to source, purchase, cook and consume ‘good’ food. These issues range from transport infrastructure to income, knowledge, and the skills to prepare healthy meals.”

It should be noted that a third of respondents to the consultation mentioned education. We have also heard from the acclaimed “Great British Menu” chef Gary Maclean, who has said that we are failing to educate the next generation about food and food preparation. He says that it goes back to the fact that those life skills have not been passed down from parents to kids for three or four generations. That is exactly why we need the bill to deliver.