To: George Eustice MP - Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Campaign For Sustainable Food
To urge the government to carry out Research into the Supply & Demand of local/national Sustainable Agriculture (Organically Farmed / Quality and Local / Vegetarian & Vegan Foods) and the availability of empty buildings/brown field sites with potential for more food storage/agriculture. This includes Primary research conducted in the form of Online and Paper Questionnaires to parents/children in schools to assess the Demand for Sustainable Foods, and It's Environmental/Financial benefits. To present this information to the general public in various forms at meetings, events, conferences, etc, and to then generate ideas/further actions that are developed from these discoveries.
This Research should then broaden into all Local Educational/Healthcare Facilities on a National/International level. Then finally to urge the government to implement such action strategies based on discoveries for local/national Demand of Sustainable Food and public ideas/opinions accumulated from meetings/debates.
Research:
· What parents want their children to eat in schools
· What children want to eat in schools
· What patients want to eat in healthcare and hospitals
· Organic Farming techniques
Promote/Encourage:
· Organic Farming, Vegetarian/Vegan Foods, and Local Agriculture
· Local Agriculture (lowering transport requirements)
· better use of empty buildings/brown field sites towards having more local storage/agriculture
· Wild Farming methods and Residential Garden Plots.
· Healthy Eating & Cooking
Analyse:
· Costs of Abatement against the effects of future climate change from non-sustainable farming methods.
· Demand for Local Sustainable Agriculture using WTA and WTP measurements
· Local and Organic Supply
Why is this important?
To identify ethical/sustainable agricultural developments on a local level and national level, in order to promote the reduction of CO2, ethics and quality of foods in farming.
Other important distributional aims/regulations such as those identified by the Soil Association are also researched, in order that successes can be noticed in the distribution of local/quality foods into healthcare and educational establishments.
DEFINITION OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
-Satisfy human food and fibre needs
-Enhance environmental quality and the natural resource base upon which the agricultural economy depends
-Make the most efficient use of non renewable sources and on-farm resources
-Integrate, natural biological cycles and controls
-Sustain the economic viability of farm operations
-Enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole
(Wikipedia – Sustainable Farming, 2013)
