Meeting of the Parliament 18 March 2025
The work of health is, of course, integral to the work on the good food nation, and that is really what the plan is about. It is about us publishing that plan and setting out, as a Scottish Government, how we are not working in silos, because we know that food policy touches all those critical areas, and how we are trying to address some of the key challenges that we face.
The Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022 provides the framework for our future food strategy. It places duties on Scottish ministers, local authorities and health boards to produce plans of their policies in relation to food and set out what they will do to make those plans real. We look forward to publishing our first national good food nation plan later this year. It will set out our high-level aspirations for a good food nation and outline how we plan to embed long-term strategic transformation into decision making about food policy.
There is much to be positive about when it comes to growth in the sector. However, all of that is in spite of some of the key challenges that industry has faced—not least Brexit, which has been an unmitigated disaster for our food and drink businesses. Very few days pass without a Brexit-related challenge being highlighted to me, from a lack of labour to impacts on exports. The Government remains firmly committed to a future within the European Union single market and the benefits that would come from that for our producers and consumers. Our food and drink sector, perhaps more than other sectors, faces the pressures of rising costs that are caused by Brexit and on-going conflicts across the world, the complexities of climate change and the ever-evolving demands of consumers.
Importantly, that brings me to food security. Until recently, it is fair to say, we all took food security for granted, thanks to the stability of the global system of trade. In recent years, things have become more volatile, which means that we are putting more of our efforts into ensuring food security in Scotland. That includes providing continued support to help our primary producers manage that volatility and produce food sustainably.
Unfortunately, providing that stability and certainty is made all the more difficult as a result of having no multiyear budget allocation support from the UK Government. We have already had to act urgently on a number of occasions—including the outbreak of war in Ukraine, which, among other things, has significantly affected energy prices and the availability of some key commodities. With the industry, we set up a short-life task force and implemented its recommendations to increase the resilience of the sector. We in the Government strengthened our relationships with key partners around the world, recognising that food security is a global issue that we cannot address alone.