The UK environment secretary has said she would not go vegetarian or vegan, as she wooed the US farming establishment.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going all vegan or vegetarian on you,” Thérèse Coffey told the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) winter conference in Washington DC, in a trip aimed at boosting discussions about the US/UK trade agreement which has been languishing on the back burner.
“Meat is still very much on my dietary plate,” she told the conference. The agriculture industry included “caring for animals with good levels of animal husbandry” which is the “right thing to do”.
The minister told those present that she hoped to increase trade with the US, pointing out that the UK is a big market for sweet potatoes from North Carolina, where she had just visited.
“All this to me reinforces the need to champion free trade,” she said. “I’ve spent the last few days in the great state of North Carolina. The UK is their biggest market for sweet potatoes – but it doesn’t stop there. They told me they wanted to get on with a free trade agreement and I hope we can resume our talks soon.” She added that the other 49 states have “fantastic produce”.
There have been fears that a post-Brexit free trade agreement with the US could cause the UK to lower its food import standards, for example by bringing in hormone-fed beef.
The speech was the first time a non-US minister has addressed the conference, which officials at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said “demonstrates the strength of UK and US collaboration on sustainable agriculture, food security and improving nature and biodiversity”.
Coffey also hinted that new legislation could be coming on food self-sufficiency after a year of turmoil in the agriculture industry. She said: “In the UK, we only have domestic self-sufficiency of about 60% and we want to maintain that at least, if not consider higher.” This year, the UK faced egg shortages due to bird flu, with farms going out of business, as well as glasshouse companies that grow fruit, vegetables and salad closing down due to energy prices. The drought that hit the country also affected vegetable production and the size of livestock which struggled without sufficient grass or hay.
The secretary of state will be speaking to UK farmers at the National Farmers’ Union annual conference next week, where she is being asked by the union’s president to commit to food security targets. The government has not yet said it would report on food self-sufficiency each year, or give a plan to increase or maintain it.
