The main parties on Food and Farming

The main parties have now launched their manifestos ahead of the General Election on 7th May. We bring you the main points from each one relating to a key part of our own manifesto - food and farming. Read our own manifesto chapter on food and farming here.

Conservative

• Develop 25 year plan to promote British food


• Treble the number of apprenticeships in food, farming and agri-tech


• Promote British food abroad by setting up a Great British Food Unit


• Ensure all government departments buy food to British standards of production by the end of the next Parliament


• Push for country of origin labelling in Europe

Green

• Move away from the intensification and industrialisation of animal farming and enforce strict animal welfare standards


• End factory farming and introduce ban on cages for hens and rabbits and zero-grazing units for dairy cows


• Improve food labelling and traceability including mandatory labelling of meat and dairy products on method of production and slaughter

Labour

• Create a world- leading Food, Farm and Fisheries sector that creates better paid jobs and apprenticeships across the rural economy


• Expand the role of the supermarket watchdog (Groceries Code Adjudicator) to support the growth of the sector and protect food producers from unfair practices by the major supermarkets

Lib Dem

• Encourage investment, growth, innovation and new entrants, securing the future of the UK food and farming industry


• Eliminate the remaining production and export subsidies and support the development of environmentally sustainable solutions to growing food demand


• Introduce a National Food Strategy to promote the production and consumption of healthy, sustainable and affordable food


• Allow the Groceries Code Adjudicator to use discretion when holding a supermarket responsible for the treatment of suppliers to help ensure farmers get paid a fair price

UKIP

• Introduce a modified UK Single Farm Payment (SFP) to replace payments made under the Common Agricultural Policy following exit from the EU


• Require the Competition Commission to promote fair practice in the food chain


• Food labelling, under the control of Westminster following exit from the EU, will ensure animal products are labelled to show the country of origin, method of production and transport


• Support research into GM foods and will allow a free vote in Parliament on their commercial cultivation