A Welsh Food System Fit For
Future Generations
A report by the Sustainable Places Research Institute at
Cardiff University, commissioned by WWF Cymru© shironosov , i-stock

By Dr Angelina Sanderson Bellamy and Prof Terry Marsden

Foreword
WWF Cymru’s aim is to help create a Wales where people
and nature can thrive, for generations to come.

Shea Buckland-Jones

Our work on sustainable development helped the passing of the
Well-being of Future Generations Act into law in Wales in 2015.
We want to see transformational change in the way thatgovernment thinks and acts – developing an approach whichmakes decisions in a joined-up, strategic way that considers theneeds of the Wales and the world of the future.
We believe that the food sector provides the perfectopportunity to demonstrate the difference the Act can maketo improved outcomes.
A well-functioning food system is crucial to our nation’s future.
It’s central to our health and wellbeing, our culture, society andeconomy. Environmentally, it’s an important part of addressing
the climate and nature crises we now face.
With this in mind, we commissioned the Sustainable Places
Research Institute at Cardiff University to produce this report tohelp us understand what a food system fit for future generations
could look like in Wales. The report is ambitious in providing ideas
for immediate action as well as further discussion and research.
Despite agreement on the important contribution food makes
to Wales’ future prosperity and sustainability, there are divergent
opinions on which interventions to pursue. We therefore hope thispaper will provide a useful contribution to the future food debate.
We would like to thank the Sustainable Places Research Institutefor conducting this research and preparing a vision for the futureof food in Wales.

© LauriPatterson, i-stock

Shea Buckland-JonesWWF Cymru
Food, Land Use and Nature Policy Manager

23About the authors

Contents

Dr Angelina Sanderson Bellamy,
Dr Sanderson Bellamy is a Research Fellow in the Sustainable
Places Research Institute. Her expertise encompasses
food production systems, land use and land cover change,
ecological resilience and ecosystem services. She uses asocial-ecological framework and interdisciplinary methods toinvestigate the drivers, particularly governance and support
structures, of environmental change and the impact of land
management on the delivery of ecosystem services.
Her experience draws from working across Latin American andUK food landscapes, and she is the Principle Investigator for
TGRAINS, a UKRI-funded project on how to make UK regional
food systems healthier and more environmentally sustainable.

Professor Terry Marsden
Terry Marsden currently holds the established chair ofEnvironmental Policy and Planning in the School of
Geography and Planning at Cardiff University. He is Directorof the Sustainable Places Research Institute at Cardiff.
He researches the interdisciplinary social science and applied
policy fields of rural geography, rural sociology, environmentalsociology, geography and planning. Terry has published over
150 international journal articles, book chapters or books.
This includes 20 research monographs and edited collections.
This body of work ranges from original theoretical work in thefield, through to empirical analysis and emerging policy
impacts and analysis. It includes wide ranging work on: thesocio-economic restructuring of agriculture; theorisations
and empirical investigations of rural development; analysis ofagri-food chains and networks; and critical commentaries inthe emerging fields of environmental sociology.

6

Executive Summary

9

Introduction

10

Why take an integrated approachto the Wales food system?

14

Policy Context

18

The Food system Opportunity

25

Conclusions: addressing thefood governance deficit

An integrated approach to food could contribute to each of the seven goalsof the Well-being of Future Generations Act:

© ALEAIMAGE , i-stock

Executive Summary
How to deliver healthy, nutritious food for all in the face of shrinking resources and a growing
population, while addressing climate change and biodiversity loss, is a major challenge both globallyand for Wales. A raft of recent reports have highlighted the need for food system change.i We have an
opportunity in Wales to design a food system that works hand-in-hand with nature and truly delivers
well-being for future generations.
The Welsh food system forms part of a wider, international system, with much of our food economy integrated into
UK-wide networks. This is recognised throughout the report, but the report’s focus is on those issues where Wales
has devolved authority to act. The Well-being of Future Generations Act, in particular, gives us the opportunity
to adopt a leading role in the UK in developing food policies, within the wider UK context of Brexit and the severe
challenges the UK food system faces.

Economic well-being:
Many working in the food industry receive low pay and many
farmers are highly dependent upon current EU subsidies. The
uncertainty of post-Brexit payment support and the potential
impacts of Brexit on UK export markets make this a deeply
concerning time for many in the food industry.

A prosperous
Wales

A Wales ofvibrant culture
and thriving
WelshlanguageA resilientWales

A Wales ofcohesive
communities

A healthierWales
A more equal
Wales• Wales’ natural resources are managed
sustainably with healthy ecosystems
underpinning food production• More healthy and sustainable Welsh food is
supplied directly to our Welsh public sector
and Welsh households• The real living wage underpins the Welsh
supply chain• Wales’ food sector is a significant contributor
to Wales’ net zero climate change target, withsignificant carbon stored on Welsh land
• Wales’ nature based/agroecological farming
systems help restore biodiversity, soil health,help prevent flooding and keep Wales’ air andwater clean• Everyone eats more fruit and veg andeats less processed food• Everyone learns about food and how togrow and prepare nutritious meals

Developing a food system strategy for Wales© SDI Productions, i-stock

To deliver a food system fit for future generations, with all the benefits this will bring, the Welsh government needs to develop afood system strategy for Wales. Drawing on recent international reports, scientific evidence and policy approaches in the UK and the EU, and current food policies and legislative requirements in Wales, we recommend three major components in developing this strategy:

1. Co-creating a new vision for Welsh food, based around 10 key interlinked themes
The 10 key interlinked themes
1.

Agroecological farming

In building the local supply of healthy, sustainable and accessible food,Wales’s food and farming sector should regenerate its ecologicalfoundation, restoring nature to provide the many functions and services
that farmers and society rely on. We recommend that Wales makes thistransformation to an agroecological farming region by 2030.

2. Agroecological farming skills
3.

Horticulture promotion

4. Local food procurement

Environmental impacts:
The Welsh government has declared a climate and natureemergency. Wales’s first State of Natural Resources reportvi
concluded that none of Wales’s ecosystems have all the attributes
required for resilience. Wales’s wildlife continues to decline
according to the State of Nature 2019 reportvii, with the latest
findings showing that one in six species are at risk of extinction.viii
Unsustainable agricultural management is the single largest driverof biodiversity decline,ix while agriculture accounts for 12% of Welsh
greenhouse gas emissions.x Our food consumption also has
global impacts, with palm oil in packaged foods and soya grown tofeed livestock driving deforestation. xi

A globally
responsible
Wales• Everyone has access to healthy, affordable food• Co-productive approaches shape food provision in Wales

But there are systematic problems that need addressing urgently too. Many people in Wales cannot afford accessto a healthy diet. The food system has negative impacts on the environment, public health and economic well-being.
This hinders our ability to prosper as a nation both now and in the future.

recourse to food banks is rising, with The Trussell Trust network
providing 113,373 three-day emergency food supplies in Wales in
2018-2019.ii One in five of people in Wales worry about runningout of food due to lack of funds according to the Food Standards
Agency,iii and 160,000 children in Wales live in households forwhom a healthy diet is increasingly unaffordable.ivMeanwhile, risingrates of obesity cost the health service £73 million per year:v 28%
of children are obese, while 94% don’t eat the recommended five
portions of fruit and vegetables a day.

• Food is used to celebrate our heritageand Welsh language• People come to Wales to experience ourfood, drink and hospitality• Food is a fundamental part of the‘Foundational Economy’• Food and farming supports ruralcommuniities to thrive• Food is used as a ‘convener’ to bringpeople together• Civil society organisations, food hubs
and cooperative bodies promote local
food initiatives

Our food system encompasses a wide range of activities from farm to fork. A supply chain of producers,
manufacturers, processers and retailers operates locally and globally, with consumers enjoying products fromacross the world as well as from local food businesses. The food system is a vital component of our economic,
environmental, social and cultural well-being. It feeds us, provides jobs, and supports communities and culture.

Affordability and diets:• Wales celebrates and builds upon our Fairtrade Nation Status• Food supply chains in Wales are deforestation-free

Note: This infographic was originally developed by ‘Food Policy and Practice Wales’.
It has been slightly adapted for the purposes of this report.

Figure A: Outcomes of a Food System Fit for Future Generations

5. Sustainable food hubs

Wales urgently needs to create an integrated,sustainable and just food system fit for
future generations.
The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act provides the visionand levers needed to achieve this transformation. It can facilitate amore joined-up approach across the food system, for example bylinking agricultural policy with health policy, and connecting the food we
produce in Wales with the food we consume.
The food sector provides an ideal opportunity to demonstrate how asystems approach can deliver a wide range of benefits under each of
the Act’s seven well-being goals and apply the sustainable development principle as set out in the Act. With the right policies in place, re-localising our food production and consumption and promoting shorter
supply chains can generate multiple benefits for the local economy,
environment, health and well-being.

6.

Food cooperatives

7.

Digital markets

Agroecology: Agroecology applies ecological concepts and principles
to food production practices, managing interactions between plants,
animals, humans and the environment for food security and nutrition.
For example, an agroecological approach to soil health would be one
which focuses upon natural inputs and their retention. The diversity ofpractices within an agroecological system creates a more robust andresilient system that is less vulnerable to international market dynamics.

8. Sustainable dietary guidelines
9. Quality food standards
10. Promote Welsh food in a
British Isles Context
A new food vision for Wales should centre around re-localising the foodsystem, restoring environmental, social and human capital to strengthen
food security and capture more value locally. It should look at what we
can sustainably produce in Wales, and tailor this to consumer demand
and market opportunities. This vision needs to be co-produced between
government, farmers, food businesses and other stakeholders including,importantly, the public through new participatory approaches at local,
regional and national levels.

Farming using agroecological principles will require a comprehensive
package of training and skills. Welsh government should support the
setup of regional training centres to drive collaboration and knowledge
exchange, drawing upon the wealth of knowledge of farmers, businesses,
and further and higher educational institutions. Training and businessadvice, as well as widening access to land, are also needed to increasesmall-scale horticultural production in Wales.
Local and regional public procurement – for example in schools, hospitals
and council offices – can help create markets for local food businesses.
Public Service Board Well-being Plans should include public value
criteria around environmental, welfare and nutritional standards infood production.

© Ashley Cooper© Greg Armfield© emholk, i-stock© kupicoo, i-stock

1. Introduction

2. Infrastructures: rebuilding sustainable
food provision
Food infrastructures need rebuilding. To support local supply chains andrebalance the distribution of power, infrastructure is needed in towns
and the countryside to link food producers to consumers in more diverse
ways. This means more sites for food markets, community retailers andfood processors, investment in food cooperatives and the developmentof a network of food hubs that aggregate and distribute local food. Local
authorities should be required to make plans for developing food hubs,
which could facilitate local and regional provisioning and procurement
for the public sector as well as private buyers.
Wales should embrace and develop digital food markets and supply
chains that link consumers with producers and food hubs. Increasing
citizen ownership and involvement in a more localised food system can
improve community cohesion as well as help shape what is produced
and how. These re-localised infrastructures will also allow retailers tostock more local food produced through agroecological based
farming practices.

3. Delivery mechanisms
To realise the new food vision for Wales and build the necessary foodinfrastructure, an integrated set of policies and funding mechanisms
need to be developed. Public Service Board Well-being Plans and Wellbeing Assessments, Natural Resources Wales’s Area Statements andthe school curriculum should be key vehicles to deliver sustainable foodproduction and consumption.
A new Wales Food Commission should be established to oversee thedelivery of the food system strategy, comprising the Future Generations
Commissioner, Area Statement leads, education and public healthboards, Welsh government leads on food policy (including agriculture,procurement, health and social care) and food practitioners (including
community-based organisations and environmental NGOs). We also
recommend creating a National Universal Food Framework to ensure
all Welsh people have the right to access healthy food.

This report explores the necessary ingredientsneeded to help shape the development of an
integrated Welsh food system and provides a
strategy and interlinked actions that would place
food policy as a central public policy in Wales. It sets
out the principles and key components that would
make up an integrated food system and provides aframework to help start a discussion around what an
integrated food system in Wales should look like.
Crucially, this study sets out the opportunity we haveto apply the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales)
Act 2015 systemically in achieving an integrated foodsystem in Wales and why now is a crucial time forachieving this. Given the context of the Act, whichsets out a vision of well-being for current and future
generations, Wales can be a leading player in the way
forward for devolved UK countries.
The report highlights what an integrated food system shouldlook like in accordance with the ways of working and wellbeing goals of the Act. The food sector provides an ideal
opportunity to demonstrate how a systems approach
can deliver a wide range of benefits under each of the
Act’s seven well-being goals and apply the sustainable
development principle as set out in the Act.
Throughout the report it is recognised that much of the
Welsh food economy is integrated into the wider UK foodeconomy. Nevertheless, it also recognises that Wales
holds devolved authority for developing its food andagricultural policies and has developed a unique set of
statutory powers associated with the Well-being of Future
Generations Act. As such, Wales has the opportunity toadopt a leading role in the UK in developing its food policies,
within the wider UK context of Brexit and the severe
challenges the UK food system faces. This paper outlines
the key ways in which the capabilities and capacities toenact this can be achieved.

Next steps
This report proposes a radical reconfiguring and realignment of food policy in Wales. We hope it
provides ideas for immediate action as well as further discussion and research. We are keen to
engage with stakeholders to identify areas of common ground and explore differences to help createa food system in Wales fit for future generations.
92. Why take an integrated approach to the Wales Food System?
Since 2018, we have seen a range of high-level
and international reports (e.g. EAT Lancet; IPES,
RSA)xii demonstrating a more urgent need for
an integrated systems approach to food andfood policy. This sees the important changes in
the food system as central for delivering on anumber of global challenges, among them how
we address biodiversity loss and climate change,
food insecurity and health, as well as reducing
the inefficiencies associated with food waste andespecially plastics. The realisation is that it is nolonger sufficient to talk about a more sustainable
food system; but rather there is a need for aradical transformation of the system so as todeliver sustainable and healthy food for all in
the face of shrinking resources and a growing
global population.
The food system is vital for future generations to better safeguard theirhealth and livelihoods, and environmental well-being which supports
this. Yet at the moment, the global food system also forms a threat tofuture generations through its dysfunctional production, distribution andconsumption practices which endanger health, contribute to the natureand climate emergencies and food insecurity.
Ecosystem resilience and a strong, healthy environment underpins theentire food and drink sector and provides the fundamental building blocks
for food production. Without functioning ecosystems and a biodiverse
natural environment, our capacity to produce food is greatly reduced.
In looking at the current state of Wales’ ecosystems, Wales’ first State of
Natural Resources Reportxiii concluded that none of Wales’ ecosystems
have all the attributes required for resilience. Wales’ wildlife continues
to decline according to the State of Nature 2019 report,xiv with the latest
findings showing that one in six species in Wales are at risk of extinction.
Unsustainable agricultural management is the single largest driverof biodiversity decline, while agriculture accounts for 12% of Welsh
greenhouse gas emissions.xv Agricultural pollution is a contributor for why
only 37% of all water bodies in Wales achieved good or better ecologicalstatus in 2015. xvi Agricultural pollution includes nitrate, phosphate andpesticide runoff, and soil erosion resulting in the siltation of watercourses.
In Wales, 89% of sensitive sites suffer from excess levels of nitrogen
pollution which flows into waterways and is deposited into the air. xvii
Our food consumption also has global impacts, with palm oil in packaged
foods and soya grown to feed livestock driving deforestationxviii. Climate
and ecological emergencies have been declared by Welsh Government,
re-enforcing the increase in public concerns and recognition of biologicaland ecological loss. Food production needs to be core to addressing
the climate and ecological emergencies.
Our food system further erodes the health of all generations, as cheapand highly processed foods high in sugar, fat and salt are widely promoted
and cheaply accessible. The incidence of obesity is increasing, with 60%
of adults and 28% of 4-to 5-year olds in Wales obese.xix 78% of adults aged
16-64 years, 77% of adults aged 65 years and over and 94% of children
aged 11 to 18 years in Wales do not meet the “5-A-Day” recommendation10

for fruit and vegetables. Healthy eating behaviours are lacking amongpeople in Wales - illnesses associated with obesity cost the Welsh
NHS more than £73 million a year.xx The increasing health cost of dietrelated chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) pose a threat to the
future of the NHS.
Furthermore, wages have not kept pace with the increasing cost ofliving, creating food poverty and insecurity in an increasing percentage
of households. In Wales, 14% of people reported in 2017 that they
had experienced a lack of food without enough money to buy more.
Emergency food supply parcels distributed to adults and children in Walesrose respectively from 9,626 and 5,070 in 2011/2012, to 60,387 and 34,803
in 2016/2017.xxi
In addition, the food landscape has changed dramatically over the last
60 years; with supply chains from farm-to-fork growing longer and more
complex and the distribution of power becoming more concentrated
through vertical integration of agri-food business activities. Seedcompanies and procurement organisations for supermarkets exert amajor influence on what happens in other parts of the food system. A
disproportionate amount of economic value is captured by corporate foodprocessors and retailers, which squeezes the margins of local producers,
independent retailers and Welsh consumers alike.xxii Corporate foodprocessors and retailers need to play a key and proactive role with respect
to achieving transformations towards health and sustainability. A systems
approach to addressing the food system could include requirements thatretailers incorporate the costs of environmentally damaging operations
and measures to make the most of food produced in their business model.
This can be achieved for example through internalizing the costs of plastic
waste generated, eliminating food waste and using circular economic
practices to reduce overall waste.
From a governance perspective, the growing food crisis has madeclear that food system outcomes are affected by a complex range ofdeterminants and that traditional governmental efforts to steer these
determinants through monocentric command and control strategies
get stranded in ‘siloed’ administrative systems, intractable controversies
between opposing value systems, and power struggles between
constellations of interests.xxiii

Figure B: Food system Reconnections:
After Lamine, 2019 xxiv
Ecologically-based
agricultural models

AG
Food systemapproaches

RIC

U
ULT

Interdisciplinarity

FO

OD

EN

RE
Agronomy
ecology
New reconnection
paradigms?
Issues of social
participation andsocial inclusion?
Food and healthsciences

Epidemiologicalapproaches

VIR
ON

ME

Healthsciences

HE

ALT

NT

Risk
Analysis
One HealthH© Rawpixel, i-stock

The food system is referred to as a system because it is highlyinterconnected. Thinking systemically and at an interdisciplinary level
can help ensure that challenges are tackled from multiple perspectives
and in a holistic way (see figure B above). Many diseases and conditions
have diet as a major risk factor, and while Public Health Wales and Welsh
Government have focused strategy on improving diets in its Healthy
Weight Healthy Wales Strategy,xxv these policies do not yet cross overto other policy sectors that influence food and drink businesses,
marketing and advertising, food production, zoning restrictions or
influence the cost of living so that people can afford healthy diets.
Food also links to important biodiversity and climate change challenges.
Wales’ food system needs to sufficiently account for its direct and indirect
impacts on the environment. This has not been factored in strongly
enough in recent consultations on the food sector in Wales, particularly
the integrated impact assessment attached to the ‘Developing Wales’
food and drink sector’xxvi consultation which does not cover a full
assessment of biodiversity. Such food plans should wholly apply theEnvironment Act, including part 1 (the sustainable managementof natural resources) as Wales’ resources should be managed ina more proactive, sustainable and joined-up way. The ‘Developing
Wales’ food and drink sector’ consultation report addresses important
themes of collaborative working across industry and promises important
support for building skills within the sector that are vital for continuous
development and prosperity of the food and drink industry. However, as an
overarching food policy document, it takes too narrow an approach to thefood system and misses an opportunity to more explicitly link up with otherconsultation reports.
The most recent Welsh Government ‘Sustainable Farming and our Land’ xxvii
consultation proposes a new land management system that uses tax
payers’ money to promote restorations of environments, soils and air
quality and reward farmers for restoring and looking after nature forthe benefit of all people in Wales. This is a big change in direction frompast farming policies that have shaped the way we farm the land. The
proposals set out are promising and indicate political will to addresscertain challenges in the agricultural sector. Again, this is just one partof the food system in Wales; sectoral approaches to food in Wales
misses opportunities to achieve co-benefits that can result
from combining approaches to healthy diets and sustainableagricultural practices.

The Well-being of Future Generations Act mandates alignment of policy
across departments in support of its vision of well-being for current
and future generations. A clearly articulated overarching food system
vision needs similarly to connect with policy across departments thatcan support its delivery. The food system vision that we propose below
supports Welsh Government’s overarching vision for well-being within thefood system. This vision is necessary not least because of the existenceof the Act, which proposes seven key interconnected principles to which
public policies should collaboratively contribute.
There appears to be a gap in current food strategy; what, how and why
we produce food should be incorporated into a food system strategy
for Wales. The ‘Sustainable Farming and our Land’ consultation reportdiscusses the possibility to direct limited financing towards the foodsupply chain where this can be shown to directly benefit producers.
Here is an opportunity to directly link to the ‘Developing Wales’ food anddrink sector’ consultation report and policies therein that also support
development of the food supply chain. The ‘Healthy weight Healthy
Wales’ strategy could link with ‘Sustainable Farming and Our Land’ andthe educational curriculum by promoting horticultural production andconsumption, thereby stimulating both demand and supply sides of thefood system. Procurement strategies could also contribute to stimulating
demand for sustainable horticultural and other food production in Wales.
The ‘Sustainable Farming and Our Land’ consultation has already built in
strategies to re-train land managers that may want to transfer to otherland management systems, e.g. horticulture. Furthermore, the ‘Sustainable
Farming and Our Land’ consultation also fails to connect up to the work
done by Natural Resource Wales (NRW) to support Section 6 of theEnvironment Act on maintaining and improving ecosystem resilience.
NRW has developed a series of attributes by which to achieve this: DECCA(Diversity, Extent, Condition, Connectivity and Adaptability). However, this isnever mentioned with respect to farm managers taking actions to deliver
ecosystem services, which represents another missed opportunity.
There are a number of Welsh public bodies that have the potential to linkup environmental sustainability and nutrition objectives. For example,
research indicates that food production systems that meet a greater
proportion of nutritional needs are also lower in environmental impacts.xxviii
On the consumption side, Food Sense Wales runs a number ofprogrammes, such as Peas Please (see case study 1 below), to promoteincreasing vegetable consumption.

11

The Public Health Boards run a number of programmes to address gaps innutritional and cooking skills in the adult population. The ongoing redesignof the Wales School Curriculum would benefit from an overarching foodsystem policy steer with respect to incorporating nutrition and cooking
skills for 3- to 16-year olds. The current section of the education curriculumon ‘Health and Well-being’ represents an opportunity for integrating these
themes, but this will come down to individual schools. This also illustrates
the need to integrate food policy not just horizontally, but verticallyfrom local, regional to national scales. Owing to the sectoral approach
to food, there are many opportunities for synergies that are being
missed. A ‘joined-up’ food policy creates the framework, mandate andimplementation plan for solving these and other problems. We particularly
need to more clearly align food production and consumption in Wales.

Case Study 1:
Peas Please- Food Sense Wales

However, creating an integrated policy approach to food systems
is admittedly challenging. The intersections between policy
systems are historically divided intellectually and departmentally.
As a result, there is no institutional support for a food-focused
approach and the instruments of multi-departmental policy making arein their infancy; there is no department of food. Whilst the Well-being of
Future Generations Act mandates an integrated approach to working,the institutional structures have not changed to match or support thismandate,xxx and the legacy of historical approaches creates a culturalbarrier to overcome. Supporting new approaches means extensively
confronting many existing and entrenched policy traditions andbureaucratic structures.

Peas Please is a nationwide initiative driving systemicchange in the food system to make it easier for all British
citizens, particularly those on a low income, to eat more
vegetables. Low consumption of vegetables is associatedwith 20,000 premature deaths each year and increasing
the amount of vegetables that we eat can play a key rolein the transition to healthy and sustainable diets.

© Imgorthand , i-stock

Peas Please is on track to secure 100 pledges of action
from businesses and Government operating along
the supply chain, as well as commitments from city
partnerships during 2020. The first monitoring reportdemonstrates that 4.8 milllion additional portions havealready been consumed as a result of Peas Pleasewith the second report (due to be launched at the 2020
Veg Summit in March) showing this figure significantly
increased. Peas Please has created an incredible networkof actors at the national and subnational level who aresupporting the initiative. Additionally, Peas Please has
initiated and incubated the Veg Power fundxxix, which has
just executed a £5 million vegetable advertising campaign
in partnership with ITV and aimed at school children. This
campaign has reached 38 million people, with 44% of theviewers children. Over two-thirds of children (69%) said
they like the ad; 57% said it made vegetables more fun and
46% said they recently tried new vegetables as a result.
There was a 2.3% positive impact on vegetables sales
during the campaigns.

© alicjane , i-stock

Together Peas Please and Veg Power have the potential
to drive an increase in vegetables consumption byworking collaboratively with stakeholders across thewhole food system to support a transition to healthy andsustainable diets.

12

Taking a food systems approach would thus mean understanding
food as more than a marketable commodity, which creates problems
for certain departments. Government has a responsibility to the
public to ensure basic rights to food and food security. In specificcircumstances, especially where private markets are clearly failing todeliver sustainable forms of food security, food (and/or the capacity to
produce food) needs to be delivered through both public and privatemeans. As we will explain below, for example, we can argue that froma food policy point of view that policy interventions are necessary infood markets in at least two important ways: (i) in defining the ways andpractices in which food is produced (see section 4.2 below), for instance in
restricting and banning pesticide use and certain types of slurry disposal);and (ii) in developing high public standards of food processing and labelling,
as currently authorised by the Food Standards Agency.

Food policy needs development as a central part of public policy because
a central guiding principle is that it is government’s responsibility to ensure
minimum standards and rights to high quality and nutritional foods for all. It
would also challenge many of the central tenets of current agricultural andeconomic development, and the healthcare system that concentrates oncures rather than prevention. This contrasts with the Well-being of Future
Generations Act’s mandate for preventative ways of working.
Candel and Pereira (2017) identify five particularly demanding areas ofconcern for integrating approaches to food system policy: (i) constructing
a resonating policy frame (involvement), (ii) formulating policy goals
that take a preventative approach, (iii) involving relevant sectors andlevels (collaboration), (iv) the question of what constitutes optimal policy
integration, and (v) designing a consistent mix of policy instruments.xxxi
We highlight that although taking a food system approach is challenging,
the Act mandates the five ways of working, four of which we highlight inbold above: long-term thinking, involvement, prevention, collaboration andintegration.
Developing a systems approach to food policy achieves the final way ofworking: long-term thinking, because the objective is to address themultiple threats that an unsustainable food system poses to public andenvironmental health both now and in the future. A food systems approachprovides an ideal opportunity to integrate sectors and demonstratea system that can deliver a wide range of benefits under each of the
Well-being of Future Generations Act’s seven well-being goals, and apply
the sustainable development principle when thinking of the long term,
prevention, integration, collaboration and involvement as set out in the Act.
It was heartening to see Welsh Government apply the Well-being of Future
Generations Act framework to the recent ‘Developing Wales’ food anddrink sector’ consultation. However, key aspects of the well-being goals
were misinterpreted or only superficially addressed in the consultation.
Furthermore, this was about applying the Act to the Food and Drinks
industry and the manufacturing and processing sectors that sit
within this, but the Act should be applied to the wider food system.
It is time for an explicit food system strategy for Wales thattakes into account the diversity of values in relation to food, therelationships between production and consumption, and thechanging power relations in the food system. We need better andmore diverse links between food production and consumption by catering
for the market at the same time as catering for improved healthy andsustainable diets. Whilst accepting that there is not a priori necessary
direct linkage between increases in re-localisation of food production
and its sustainability, we can argue that with the right policies in place,re-localising our food production and consumption and promoting shorter
supply chains can generate multiple benefits for the local economy,
environment, health and well-being. Such an integrated policy
approach would be a mechanism to build resilience back into
Wales’ Food system.

13

© DGLimages , i-stock

3.2 The need© svetikd , i-stock

So, the questions for policy makers now become more challenging andurgent, and they specifically include:(i)

How do we develop integrated strategies and actions which will
shift the food system onto a more transformatory pathway that cantackle poverty and generate multiple benefits for the local economy,
environment, health and well-being?

(ii) How can consumers, processors, retailers and producers be
encouraged to make these shifts?
(iii) How can a clearer and collective vision of a future Wales foodsystem be built, articulated and communicated both to all
stakeholders and the public, such that it becomes a major
dimension of Welsh Public policy?
Whilst the current Food Action Plan is one part of this, it does not provide
a comprehensive Welsh food system strategy for the present and future
generations. As a result, it does not meet the full demands of the Act’s
well-being goals and ways of working. As noted above in section two,the current Food Action Plan needs to be integrated and embedded intoa wider range of associated policy areas (including policies covered inthe ‘Sustainable Farming and Our Land’ consultation report and ‘Healthy
Weight: Healthy Wales Strategy Plan’) to build a real and comprehensive
national food system policy for Wales and align with the Act, and more
broadly the UN Sustainable Development Goals. As stated above, Wales
needs a systems approach to the food system that better connects foodproduction, manufacturing and processing, retail and consumption.
A systems approach is an opportunity to strengthen the integrationof social, economic, cultural and environmental considerations byconsidering them together across departments, rather than one
department focusing, for example, on environmental considerations withless attention or understanding given to social or economic elements.
Integrating the Food Action Plan into a comprehensive approach tofood system policy is made more complicated by the high level ofintegration of the Welsh food system with the UK food system, and thecurrent uncertainties of potential disruptions to markets and regulations
associated with Brexit. As a result, Welsh food policies need to clearly
indicate what Welsh Government can and cannot do with respect
to food policy; and how this can dovetail with a wider UK policy. Any
Wales food policy needs to recognise that many of its conventional
supply chains are increasingly tied to UK processing and retailinghubs; and that Welsh consumers are hugely reliant upon UK and EU
rather than just Welsh food providers. This process is exacerbated by
the concentration of larger processing facilities in England and the loss of
smaller more local facilities in Wales, such as abattoirs and mills. Similarly,
much of Welsh food production goes into UK and EU supply chains. xxxviii
Hence when we develop ambitious plans for Welsh food, we need to pay
particular attention to collaborating and developing partnerships acrossthe devolved territories, and indeed understanding the levels of import andexport from Ireland. This should not reduce our energies and ambitions indeveloping a more integrated and visionary approach in Wales. Indeed, it
makes the need to do this and to build a more resilient food system as partof wider systems all the more urgent and creates an opportunity for Wales
to be a leader across the devolved countries.
A strategic overarching food system strategy that spans multiple Welsh
Government departments would enable Welsh Government to fulfil its
obligations under the Act by directly addressing the seven well-being
goals. If Wales had a just and sustainable food system fit for future
generations, this is what we believe it could look like:© SolStock , i-stock

3. Policy Context

Figure C: Outcomes of a Food System Fit for Future Generations

3.1 An integrated approach: The Well-being of Future Generations Act,the seven well-being goals and the five ways of working
An integrated food system approach is not a new idea for Welsh
Government; The National Assembly for Wales Climate Change,
Environment and Rural Affairs Committee launched a report in May
2018 ‘Rethinking food in Wales: Public procurement of food’xxxii and
Chapter 1 considered the strategic direction of food policy and asks
whether an overarching food strategy is desirable and necessary.
Their first conclusion states: “There is currently a need for a strategic
vision for the Welsh food sector which makes connections between
different policy areas, such as health, wellbeing and sustainability,
alongside economic growth.”
Over the past decade, Welsh Government has tried several times toaddress deficiencies in its food system. Most notably ‘Food From Wales:
Food For Wales’xxxiii was an overarching document published in 2010. It
was never fully implemented and placed in the background by successive
Ministers in favour of a more specific Action Plan that focused on Wales’
food industry sector and set up the Food Industry Board. This has beensuccessful in increasing gross value added and employment through14

the food manufacturing system, but it would be unfair to view it as acomprehensive and holistic approach, or indeed as the food systemstrategy for Wales earlier envisaged by Food From Wales: Food For
Wales. The Assembly Committees and the Public Policy Institute for Wales
2016 ‘Food Policy as Public Policy’ reportxxxiv both highlight the need for amore integrated and holistic approach to food policy. Again, these have notbeen adopted, and Ministers have responded to these calls by signalling
the primacy of the ‘Towards Sustainable Growth - an Action Plan for the
Food and Drink Industry 2014-2020’xxxv (referred to as the Food Action Plan;and its current review with the ‘Developing Wales’ food and drink sector’xxxvi
consultation), as the main food policy vehicle (see Minister’s August
2018 response to Environment Assembly Committee on their report on
Food Procurement). xxxvii• Wales celebrates and builds upon our Fairtrade Nation Status• Food supply chains in Wales are deforestation-free• Food is used to celebrate our heritageand Welsh language• People come to Wales to experience ourfood, drink and hospitality• Food is a fundamental part of the‘Foundational Economy’• Food and farming supports ruralcommuniities to thrive• Food is used as a ‘convener’ to bringpeople together• Civil society organisations, food hubs
and cooperative bodies promote local
food initiatives

A globally
responsible
Wales

A prosperous
Wales

A Wales ofvibrant culture
and thriving
WelshlanguageA resilientWales

A Wales ofcohesive
communities• Everyone has access to healthy, affordable food• Co-productive approaches shape food provision in Wales

A healthierWales
A more equal
Wales• Wales’ natural resources are managed
sustainably with healthy ecosystems
underpinning food production• More healthy and sustainable Welsh food is
supplied directly to our Welsh public sector
and Welsh households• The real living wage underpins the Welsh
supply chain• Wales’ food sector is a significant contributor
to Wales’ net zero climate change target, withsignificant carbon stored on Welsh land
• Wales’ nature based/agroecological farming
systems help restore biodiversity, soil health,help prevent flooding and keep Wales’ air andwater clean• Everyone eats more fruit and veg andeats less processed food• Everyone learns about food and how togrow and prepare nutritious meals

15

© SolStock , i-stock

A Prosperous Wales.

A More Equal Wales.

Wales’ natural resources are managed sustainably withhealthy ecosystems underpinning food production. Wales’ foodand farming sectors are a significant contributor to addressing
the climate emergency and Wales’ net zero climate changetarget. Public procurement offers the opportunity to shorten
supply chains, set public value criteria around environmental
and welfare standards in food production, and stimulate
demand for healthier and more sustainable Welsh food to be
procured/supplied to the public sector and Welsh households.
This creates opportunities for thriving local economies which
are supported through various training routes to ensure that
Welsh food system actors are able to rise to the challenge andseize business opportunities that support regional economies.
The real living wage underpins the Welsh supply chain.

A food system strategy for Wales supports a framework that
ensures everyone has access to healthy, affordable food.
Co-productive approaches shape food provision in Wales.
The development of food citizens is encouraged, where people
actively engage in their community food systems to drive
culturally appropriate regional and national food systems.
Culturally appropriate practices and food vary across regions
and even within cities, which further points to the need for a
co-productive approach addressed through citizen
assemblies and other forms of citizen engagement.

A Resilient Wales.
Wales’ agroecological farming systems help to restore
biodiversity and soil health, prevent flooding and keep
Wales’ air and water clean. Agroecological farming systems
restore resilience within production systems by introducing
diversity, circularity and complexity and eliminating the useof non-renewable and energy-intensive inputs. Wales’ foodsystem uses a combination of agri-environment payments
and demand-side drivers for healthy and sustainable foods.
Going beyond payments for environmental services currently
recognized in ‘Sustainable Farming and Our Land’, payments
would also be for actions that support the achievement of
NRW’s DECCA approach to improving ecosystem resilience.
Agri-environment payments would recognize contributions
to well-being and education goals which improve the social
resilience of the system by building relationships back into thefood system.

A Healthier Wales.
Everyone eats more fruit and veg and less ultra-processed
food. Health strategies are integrated into a food systemstrategy for Wales to ensure that everyone has access tohealthy, affordable food, and that everyone can learn about
food, how to grow it, and to prepare nutritious meals. Positive
norms to healthy foods are built into the education systemand there is a greater awareness and respect for the foodthat people consume as relationships between people andthe source of their food is better understood. Small-scalehorticultural production in Wales is scaled up through widening
access to land and training of new entrants and businessadvice. Connecting with the ‘Healthy Weight Healthy Wales’
obesity strategy, school food standards reflect healthy eating
principles and sustainable food production capability inWales is stimulated to ensure Welsh food is supplied by Welsh
producers to children in Wales giving environmental, health,economic and social benefits.

16

A Wales of Cohesive Communities.
The food and farming sectors support rural communities
to thrive, ensuring livelihoods for farming communities thatdeliver ecological and social well-being goals. Food is used asa “convener” to bring people together and sustainable foodprovision becomes a key element in community regeneration
strategies in both urban and rural communities. Civil society
organisations, food hubs and cooperative bodies areencouraged and supported to promote local food initiatives aspart of community development initiatives. Support is directed
towards setting up regional training centres for sustainable
food production that draw upon and bring together the wealthof knowledge of farmers and business owners throughcollaboration.

A Wales of Vibrant Culture &Welsh Language.
Food is used to celebrate our heritage and Welsh language.
People come to Wales to experience our food, drink andhospitality. Welsh cuisine and food culture is encouraged
in the food service and hospitality sectors. Food initiatives
are inserted as part of Welsh language training and school
curricula. Food is recognised as a fundamental part of the‘Foundational Economy’, enabling local communities toregenerate and become more socially and culturally vibrant.

A Globally Responsible Wales.
Food supply chains are globally responsible as they haveeliminated the import of commodities that are linked toenvironmental degradation abroad e.g. supply chains are freefrom soy feed and palm oil linked to deforestation. As part ofthis, livestock feed in Wales and the rest of the UK does notrely on resources from overseas. This is a key principle aspart of business support from Welsh Government and a key
principle in public sector procurement. Wales strengthens andbuilds on becoming the first country in the world to achieve
Fair Trade Nation status as a way of demonstrating support
for global producers.

174.1 Overview of the opportunity
The process of developing a food system strategy
for Wales needs to focus upon three clearly
identified policy spheres: (i) Co-creating a newcollective and transformative vision for Welsh
food that has the capacity to meet today’s urgent
needs outlined above; (ii) concerted actions inbuilding infrastructure that supports integrated
policy approaches; and (iii) enacting a range ofinterrelated delivery mechanisms at multiple
spatial and organisational scales.
Given these new and demanding challenges, a new vision for Welsh foodis needed; and this once agreed, needs to be owned and embedded in acomprehensive food infrastructure plan which tackles and progresses
all seven principles of the Act and involves investments and interventions
in social, economic and environmental infrastructures. This will require
a whole-government approach and as part of this, changes ingovernance infrastructures as well, as we have recently advocated in aseries of briefing papers;xxxix and is supported by influential reports like therecent Royal Society of Arts (RSA) 2019 report. The RSA report advocatesactions to be taken within our food system over the next ten years torecover and regenerate nature, and to restore health and well-being toboth people and planet. Brexit can also be seen as an opportunity torecast food governance. We advocate establishing a new Wales Food
Commission to oversee targets and performance of a food systemstrategy for Wales and to bring together existing siloed policy areas under
one governance framework. The Commission would have a broader remit
than the Food and Drink Wales Industry Board, which only covers theindustry part of the food sector1. A food system strategy for Wales will
also set up a wider range of delivery mechanisms beyond those currently
set out in the Food Action Plan.

4.2 A Transformative Vision
It is instructive to re-visit the collective vision proposed in the ‘Food For
Wales; Food from Wales (2010-2020) policy.xli Many of the objectives set
out in that strategy document remain relevant and even more important
given the delays in adequately addressing them in the interim; forexample, improved reputation and value, higher food quality, increased
diversity; a shared goal across all main stakeholders; more integration;and embedding food into long-term approaches to economic resilienceand security. In fact, many of these objectives align with the five ways ofworking highlighted above.
Much of this vision has not been realised because Welsh
Government has not fully promoted the policy or created an
appropriate delivery and implementation plan. As a result,policy areas have remained fragmented and continue to pursue
sectoral approaches to aspects of the food system: environment,
health and the economy are all treated as separate aspects of the foodsystem, which perpetuates approaches that are less efficient and risk
contradicting each other, rather than identifying areas of synergies andefficiencies. Policy segmentation has led to a food policy largely dictatedby economic growth priorities. This has focused on industry drivers andpartners and risks isolating food production from consumption drivers

18

and risks continuing the social inequities across the food system thatlead to food insecurity. A decade of UK Government economic austerity
has exacerbated food insecurity for low income groups and significantly
reduced local authorities’ abilities to invest in the processes identified in
the Food for Wales; Food from Wales strategy, such as food procurement
and food security programmes. All of the evidence shows that foodinsecurities for the Welsh population have increased over the past
decade. Some may be critical of vision statements, but we wish toargue that this is now an urgent requirement if we are to re-set anddevelop a sustainable, restorative and transformational agenda
for Welsh food.
A new revised and ambitious vision is needed which can attract and enrol
policy leaders, civil society and the business community through practicesof co-production and joint working. In light of the five ways of working,in particular, involvement, integration and collaboration, there is a legal
mandate to engage with as wide a range of actors within the food system
as possible to build this vision. As everyone is a consumer, this means
engaging with the wider public in the process, for example through citizen
assemblies, and ensuring that the resulting vision reflects the identified
priorities and builds upon their lived experiences. In this way we also
support the development of food citizens and the need to build stronger
and more empowered communities.
It is important that this vision is then communicated inside and outside ofWales, and especially to the changing nature and role of the Westminster
government. While this strategy should be co-created, there are a numberof broad themes relevant to promoting ecological, social and economic
sustainability and resilience. We need to better link food production andconsumption strategies in Wales, by catering for the market and cateringfor healthy and sustainable diets. We should be looking at what we cansustainably produce and sell in Wales, tailoring this to market demands
and consumer trends, and identifying domestic market opportunities forthese products in the first instance, and secondly export markets.
In addition to a Wales Food Commission, a national framework forensuring integration and achieving food security across Welsh society
is critical for transformation. We suggest that these structural changes
can be created in the form of a National Universal Food Framework. In
the UK, we have universal health care because healthcare is viewed as auniversal right that everyone should be able to access. The UK has ratified,and is therefore legally bound by, the ICESCR, including the human rightto adequate food.xlii Therefore, the Government is legally required underinternational human rights law to secure the human right to adequate
food for everyone in the UK. Similarly, the UN Special Rapporteur on the
Right to Foodxliii defines the right to food as “the right to have regular,
permanent and free access, either directly or by means of financialpurchases, to quantitatively and qualitatively adequate and sufficient
food corresponding to the cultural traditions of the people to which theconsumer belongs, and which ensures a physical and mental, individualand collective, fulfilling and dignified life free of fear.”xliv

1

We acknowledge that there is also now an Implementation Board for the ‘Healthy
Weight Healthy Wales’ Obesity Strategy and also a Food Standards Agency
Welsh Food Advisory committeeof public goods would reward farmers for their participation in educationand social prescribing programmes. The co-design and co-productionof a National Universal Food Framework could be supported by the
Area Statement process which needs to address how food is produced
and how this can be harnessed in order to meet regional development
priorities and ecosystem resilience and biodiversity legislative
commitments; the ways of working in order to achieve Area Statementsthat meet legislative requirements would enable a wider approach to thefood system suggested here.l© damircudic , i-stock

4. The Food System Opportunity

A National Universal Food Framework would grow a connection between
individuals and the food they eat, it would create health benefits in termsof increasing physical activities, and it would improve mental health due
to both outdoor physical activity and socialising with other people also on
the farm/garden. It would do so by integrating education, agriculture, food,procurement and health strategies and action plans and would drive afood system strategy for Wales.

In Wales in 2018, 20% of people worry about running out of food and 26%
of 16- to-34-year olds surveyed ran out of food in the previous year.xlv
Further, the Food Foundation has shown that 160,000 children in Wales
are living in households for whom a healthy diet, as defined by the Eatwell
Guide, is increasingly unaffordable.xlvi We know that food and diet are tightly
coupled to health and well-being. A National Universal Food Framework
would ensure universal access to a healthy diet.
A National Universal Food Framework would engage with food producers,
food hubs, schools, local authorities and the NHS to re-connect people
to the sources of food, to nature and to each other. Building relationships
back into the food system can foster positive mental and physical healthoutcomes,xlvii and promote the following ways of working of the Act:
prevention, collaboration and involvement. A National Universal Food
Framework can create the mechanisms to empower communities toengage with their food system so as to design and build through bottomup participation and with facilitation support, community-based universal
food programmes that utilize a capabilities approach and meet the uniqueneeds of each community.xlviii
In the case of food produced locally, school children and community
members could be connected with local farms and community gardens,
where they would spend time with other individuals, on activities on thefarm/garden to grow food. It could also incorporate community kitchens,
which would be stocked with basic store cupboard goods, where people
could go to cook food in a social and supportive environment. This wouldgrow the scheme supported by the Soil Association in the Food forLife programxlix to award funding to groups for multigenerational social
gatherings based around food. This is just to illustrate the ways in which
Welsh Government could create a National Universal Food Framework
and benefit from existing programmes at community, regional andnational scales.
A National Universal Food Framework could coordinate and use social
and nature prescribing to have individuals spend time on farms/gardens,
growing food. The National Universal Food Framework would incorporate
education and school curriculum through partnering farmers andcommunity gardens with schools to incorporate regular farm visits into
health and well-being learning objectives under the new school curriculum.
Adult learning programs for nutrition and cooking skills would incorporate
learning about how food grows (which encourages greater appreciationof the food). It would establish lifelong education that reconnects people
to the source of their food. Agri-environment payments for the provision

A National Universal Food Framework would draw upon already existing
strategies across the above-mentioned sectors, but create a structure
for unifying these strategies under the Welsh Government’s defined
strategy for well-being. The new structure presents opportunities for costsavings by creating synergies across the food system to achieve thetransformation needed for a sustainable and just food system. A National
Universal Food Framework would also improve costs through improved
health outcomes that reduce the burden of non-communicable anddietary related diseases, and improve education outcomes to achievea more prosperous Wales. While such an approach seems radical, andindeed Wales would be the first national government to initiate a universal
rights approach to food, a recent report released by the RSA Food,
Farming and Countryside Commissionli advocates similar approaches,for example through their proposed Beetroot Bonds (pg. 26). We proposethat in order to implement such an approach successfully, it would requirea broader systemic infrastructure of support such as a National Universal
Food Framework could offer.
A National Universal Food Framework disrupts the current system andproposes taking a food system approach to policy by integrating andaligning a National Universal Food Framework to other national service
systems such as the NHS, the Education System and all national andlocal government procurement processes. The National Universal Food
Framework, embedded within these institutions and mechanisms, would
provide: a) important opportunities for norm setting; b) advocacy andaccountability; and c) behavioural change across local, regional andnational levels. Rather than precluding existing community interventions
that operate in a piecemeal fashion, it would provide a national framework
under which interventions may operate in a systematic manner to drive
behaviour change at all system levels to improve health outcomes for all,help address the climate and ecological crises, increase resilience andensure sustainability. Such a system would also align with internationalguidelines, such as the UN Decade on Nutrition and UN Right to Food.
Moreover, a National Universal Food Framework would utilise government
buying power to drive systemic changes in business, the third sector andpolicy making to ensure that all sectors and members of society benefit.
Building on the above, we believe that the following themes should informthe process of building the vision for a food system strategy for Wales.
Co-creating this new vision for Welsh food should be based around 10 key
interlinked themes. The themes are interrelated, supporting each other inachieving synergy across the system:19© hobo_018 , i-stock

Case Study 2:
Slade Farm - a Mixed Organic
Farm in South Wales

Building local supply of healthy, sustainable andaccessible food:(i)Agroecological farming: Given the climate and biodiversity
crises, Wales’ agricultural sector has to transform and regenerate
its ecological foundation. We recommend that Wales makes
a transformation to an agroecological farming region by 2030.
Agroecology applies ecological concepts and principles to foodproduction practices, managing interactions between plants,
animals, humans and the environment for food security and nutrition.
Agroecology integrates circular and regenerative approaches to thenatural resources in the system, maintaining and recycling nutrientsin the system. They rely on the diversity of biological organisms, fromthe plants grown and harvested, to the insects both in the groundand above-ground that facilitate an environment conducive to
growing crops. Agroecological approaches focus on soil health andpreservation and natural input (sun radiation, air, water and nutrients)
optimisation. The diversity of practices within an agroecologicalsystem creates a robust and resilient system that is less vulnerable
to international market dynamics of input (synthetic fertilizers,
pesticides and seeds) price and availability. The use of synthetic
fertilizers not only contributes to climate change, but they disrupt
the natural balances in soil biotic communities, reducing naturalsoil fertility functions. Pesticides further disrupt the natural balanceby killing broad populations of insects and other animals that often
provide beneficial services for the farming system. Agroecologicalapproaches emphasize ecological knowledge and skills to respondto the dynamics of the natural system and understand best practices
for achieving ecological balance, which creates high functioning andproductive systems. Agroecology relies on on-farm natural resources
and in-depth knowledge of the farming ecosystem, with a strong
focus on participatory action research to achieve context specific andsocially accepted innovations within farming systems. It requires amulti-stakeholder approach bringing together agriculture, environmentand social perspectives. lii

In the context of developing a food system strategy for Wales and theopportunities that Brexit now brings in developing bespoke UK and Welsh
agricultural and food policies, it is proposed that these agroecologicalprinciples become central to food policy in Wales, and indeed that Wales,
over a ten-year period develops its own contextually specific form ofagroecological agriculture. New and comprehensive European evidence
suggests that transitions to agroecological practices not only provide
additional income and value-added benefits to existing farm practices,
they hold higher levels of local employment as well as ecologicalrestorative potential.liii Case study 2 below demonstrates an example ofregenerative farming in practice in Wales.

20

For much of the last 50 years we’ve been moving towards
easily consumable food with permanent availability. For
farming that has meant predictability of supply leading to
specialisation, intensification and consolidation. This is at
odds with the natural system, which depends on diversity,and it also creates an imbalance of power between
supply chain producers and buyers.

A resilient Wales
Farming practices can be used to ensure increased
biodiversity as well as the production of nutritious food.
Slade Farm uses cyclical nutrition and fertility building
within the farm to provide a definitively sustainablesystem within no external inputs. The system is supported
via management practices such as areas of permanentpasture, spring sown cereals, and hay meadow
maintenance. Taken together these practices ensure
the maintenance and growth of biodiversity above andbelow ground.

A more cohesive Wales
Using farms as a ‘place’ provides the opportunity toengage communities in food production and nature.
Slade Farm has regular public events to showcase foodproduction and runs a small Community Supported
Agriculture scheme. This brings the local community
together and creates both bonding and bridging social
capital as well as reconnecting people to the land.

A healthier Wales
An overwhelming driver of poor outcomes in health andnutrition is the level of processed foods consumed. Slade
Farm connects people to primary products throughlocal supply of meat and vegetables. This creates the
micro opportunities within households to make different
choices. The shape of our food system influences our
behavioural patterns; changing its shape can havepositive consequences for health and nutrition.
Wales has an opportunity to enshrine the benefits ofregenerative agriculture within its food system. It isclear that when such practices are in place they provide
enormous public and common goods that contributedirectly to a better Wales.

(ii) Agroecological farming skills: Supporting agroecologicalapproaches to food production requires a more connected andcomprehensive training and skills landscape for sustainable foodproduction and the wider food system that links food and farming
organisations, urban and rural production and the network of further
and higher educational institutions. The ‘Sustainable Farming and
Our Land’ consultation, the ‘Developing Wales’ food and drink sector’consultation and the ‘Healthy Weight Healthy Wales’ strategy allincorporate support and action points to address the skills gap
at various points in the food system. An overall vision could also
incorporate school curriculum in supporting these objectives.
Food policy in Wales has already taken innovative steps to support
networking and connecting actors in the food system by establishing
themed clusters to support skills development within the foodsector. Continued support can be directed at setting up regional
training centres for sustainable food production that draws upon andbrings together the wealth of knowledge of farmers and businessowners through collaboration. These centres could support new
co-operatives and co-operative ways of working as well as enablingaccreditation and/or financial support for farmers wanting to deliver
traineeships and training programmes.liv Case study 3 illustrates ways
in which informal traineeships already occur and could be increased in
numbers with financial incentives.

Case Study 3:
Cae Taniv
Community supported agriculture (CSA) is an approach
to farming where the responsibilities, risks and rewards
are shared between growers and members. Cae Tan isa grower-led CSA meaning decisions are guided by thegrowers and supported by the members of the CSA who
pay for a share of the crop in the form of a weekly box ofvegetables. There are currently 120 members of the Cae
Tan CSA who pick up their weekly vegetable box from a
local hub.
Cae Tan aims to help establish new growers and build
local produce availability. Currently, the head grower
and assistant grower manage farm operations,
supported by an apprentice and a number of volunteers.
Through the CSA model, Cae Tan are creating a range
of opportunities for new entrant growers including
training and employment. Over the last four years, twoapprentices have moved on to secure employment inhorticulture: one has become assistant grower at Cae
Tan and one has set up a salad growing social enterprise.
A third apprentice is working towards setting up a sister
CSA in the Swansea area.
Alongside their apprenticeship scheme, Cae Tan runs a
Sustainable Schools Programme where primary school
pupils from five schools in the Swansea area are learning
about sustainable farming.

Long-term core funding, similar to that provided to farmers forenvironmental and social benefits, could be provided by Welsh
Government for training and support for new and existing sustainable
food co-operatives, community food hubs and community food centres.
Advice and further education on both co-operative ways of working andco-operative legal structure tailored to the food sector would be available
to businesses regardless of size or turnover, embedding co-operativeeducation within Welsh educational policy and business provision
services. Training and skills would be available to connect to nutrition andcooking throughout the education system (from early years to university
and adult education). Programmes such as the Nutrition Skills for Lifelvi
and the School Holiday enrichmentlvii seek to achieve these objectives
in certain communities. Schools should be linked to farms and urban /community gardens, where hands-on learning about the source of foodcreates a foundation for food skills for future generations. This is alreadybeing achieved by the Soil Association’s Food for Life programmelviii, Tasty
Careerslix and the Welsh Government’s Skill Pledgelx, creating a model for
Welsh Government to scale across society.
Further training can be achieved by creating centres for training and R&D
extending and developing the existing food technology centres networks
so as to meet the Welsh Government Food Action Plan target of attracting
8000 new entrants into food manufacturing by 2025. This number needs
to increase when we consider the food hospitality sector, farming andespecially horticulture, and product marketing. The centres would bedemonstration hubs of best practice.
(iii) Horticulture promotion: Scale out small-scale horticultural
production in Wales through widening access to land and trainingof new entrants and business advice, especially for producers
in the meat and dairy sectors wishing to diversify. Horticultural in
Wales has been in long term decline with fewer than 3,000 hectares
now under cultivation for potatoes, field vegetables, small fruit andcommercial orchards, compared with double that amount forty years
ago.lxi Innovative schemes that are targeted at growing the market
opportunities for these products, most easily through procurement
policies, coupled with greater knowledge exchange, could help toincentivise more widespread production in Wales. In order for Walesto produce the amount of fruit and vegetables required to meet
nutritional recommendations of five servings a day, 2% of Welsh landarea would be required for production.lxii Aiming for 2% of land area tobe dedicated to horticultural production could form a policy tool withinboth health and land management strategies in Welsh Government.
According to research into the barriers to increasing horticulture
production in Wales: “Perceived barriers...were the challenge of ‘squaring
the circle’ and how to make a living from selling fruit and veg at thesame time as producing an affordable product; lack of fairness in thesystem; training and labour issues; lack of research and development;
the constraints of seasonality versus desire for exotic fruit and veg andthe culture of fruit and veg consumption; marketing of fruit and veg;
and the systemic ‘chicken and egg’ challenge in terms of whether toincrease consumption or production first. Overlying all these barriers is adivergence within the sector and general lack of policy direction and vision
which in itself has been a barrier to development.” lxiii
The Pathways to Farminglxiv project (see case study 4 below) in North
Powys is an example of a project working to increase horticulture
production in Wales and create new markets for local produce.

21

Pathways to Farming
Pathways to Farming is a Mach Maethlon projectworking on increasing the number of horticultural foodproducers in North Powys and creating new markets for
local produce. The project is working with 12 trainees in
the Machynlleth and Newtown area, teaching them thehorticultural skills needed for commercial food production
and mentoring them to grow on small scale ‘microfarm’plots. The idea is that these trainees will move on to scale
up in the future using the business plans they are writing
as part of their training.
The project is working to develop new markets and new
selling models that will enable more locally grown foodto be sold. The project will meet its aims by running afive-step programme:
1.

EVENTS: to promote local food and engage more
people in growing and eating it.

2. VOLUNTEERING: offering volunteer opportunities topeople interested in gaining experience in sustainable
food production.
3. MICROFARMS: developing new ‘microfarm’ sites on
which new entrants to horticultural food production
can test their ideas and gain experience.
4. VOCATIONAL TRAINING: developing a new accredited
training programme in sustainable horticultural foodproduction.
5. NEW MARKETS: creating new markets for locally
produced food, including food hubs and newcooperative selling models.
The project has developed exciting partnerships. In
Machynlleth the Centre for Alternative Technology hasoffered land, project support and shared vision, while in
Newtown the project has partnered with the community
growing organisation Cultivate to share their community
garden and their vision for a more resilient food system.

22© AIMSTOCK , i-stock

Case Study 4:

Building the local market for healthy, sustainable andaccessible food:(iv) Local food procurement: Make local and regional public
procurement of foods a key aspect of Public Service Board wellbeing plans, link this up to a network of sustainable food hubs, andregularly monitor this through the Public Service Boards. As an
example and as stated above, one of the barriers to increasing
horticulture production is the need to stimulate demand for fruit andvegetables grown. Procurement has the power to create the demand
for greater horticulture and arable crop production in Wales for
Welsh consumption. The increase in demand can support policies toencourage producers to transition towards agroecologicalproduction practices and more diverse production systems.
The Carmarthenshire pilot Foundational Economy projectlxv on local
and regional food procurement should be extended to all Welsh
Local Authorities, recognising the differences between urban andrural areas.
(v)

Sustainable food hubs: Invest in developing a network ofsustainable food hubs (businesses that aggregate and distributelocal food) in rural Wales and link farming support to making
transitions and convergence to agroecological practices. According
to a 2018 survey of UK food hubs, they often cooperate within an
explicit ethical framework and fill gaps in local food infrastructure,
help consumers find locally sourced produce, support new formsof food retail, incubate food enterprises, and / or create a space forcommunity education and action.lxvi Food hubs have been estimatedto have a gross output multiplier of 1.75 and an employment
multiplier of 2.14.lxvii An integrated policy environment within Wales
needs to recognise the vital link between sustainable and just food,vibrant culture, and the health and well-being of future generations.
This requires a Wales-wide action plan that catalyses local foodeconomies through development of co-operative food hubs andcommunity food centres. Co-operative food hubs can support
producers through co-operative processing and distribution enabling
resources and access to Wales-wide retail and procurement outlets.
Community food centres can be spaces for diverse communities
in Wales to come together to access healthy, local and affordable
fresh produce, foster vibrant food cultures, educate about cooperative values and principles and catalyse local food innovationand enterprises. Together co-operative food hubs and community
food centres can cultivate co-operative Welsh food economies andempower communities to achieve sustainable and just food futures.

(vi) Food cooperatives: Further long-term investments in setting
up food cooperatives at all levels and scales, so as to increase
the density of coops across Wales. Link cooperatives to thedevelopment of food hubs, which stand to play an important role
within the National Universal Food Framework with respect to designof community-based universal food programmes.

easy to create innovative, independent community food enterprise.lxviii
Such a tool would support the design of community-based universal
food programmes and illustrate that the tools needed to achieve
such programmes already exist.

Case Study 5:Open Food Networklxix
The Open Food Network is a platform co-operative
supporting the development of hubs for local food
distribution. Members include food producers and foodhubs and shops. Via the online platform, producers
can sell to other shops and hubs as well as direct toconsumers; wholesalers can manage buying groups andsupply food hubs; communities can set up food hubs
enabling trade and distribution within the local community.
Currently, over 1,000 producers and around 60
community enterprises running local food hubs areregistered on the Open Food Network UK. Open source
software supports the distribution of local food via foodhubs. As a model of co-operatively managed software,
all members collectively own the software and data.
According to Nick Weir (Open Food Network):“OFN shortens food supply chains...giving as much of thevalue to the producer whilst making food as affordable aspossible to the eaters.” (OFN)(viii) Sustainable dietary guidelines: Promote healthy eating andsustainable diets in public institutions and encourage private sector
small business growth from the farm to the high street. Wales needs
to set and develop ambitious sustainable dietary guidelines
and establish a sustainable dietary advisory board to develop andcheck that these guidelines are working. Food Sense Wales has
already contributed significant work on this point and would playa central role. Such a board would bring in universities and Publichealth Wales and task the Future Generations office to champion thisprocess of dietary improvement year-on-year. All public and private
food contracts should be required to apply the new sustainabledietary guidelines.

(vii) Digital markets: Embrace and develop digital food markets andsupply chains, linking consumers with producers and food hubs
as part of the development of the foundational/circular economy
in Wales. Such digital tools already exist, for example in the Open
Food Network (OFN) (see case study 5 below), which can also makemarket data open source and publicly available, assisting producers,
cooperatives and food hubs in making cultivation decisions. The OFN
is a global network of people and organisations working together
to reconnect producers and consumers by developing open andshared resources, knowledge and software to support a better foodsystem in the form of an open source software platform that makes it

23Promoting the Welsh Brand for healthy andsustainable food:(ix) Quality food standards: Protect, build upon and aim for higher
food standards; maintain the current EI PGI/PDO recognitions andextend them. This is particularly important to progress, given Brexit
and the need to distinguish quality food standards across the UK as
well as within Wales. These standards should include sustainability
criteria in addition to point of origin and build on the work that Welsh
Government has already achieved through the Good Taste Awards,
for example.
(x)

Promote Welsh Food in a British Isles context: Reformulate, inthe context of Brexit, a proactive food export strategy most centrally
in the UK and link this explicitly to the Welsh Tourism Brand, and thedevelopment of Welsh cuisine in the UK market. Major confusions
currently exist regarding the future of designated protected area
brands in Wales and the rest of the UK as part of Brexit tradenegotiations in 2020. There will also be a growing need to export
nutritious food across the UK, with particular attention to making it
accessible to low-income households. There is considerable market
potential for nutritional and agroecological food grown in the UK.

This vision should be delivered through targeted and redirected funding
packages, including post-Brexit funding for farming and regional
development. This will require wholesale reorganisation of current
Welsh Government departments which are currently based uponsectoral working (e.g. agriculture, food industry; health, environment andnatural resources). It follows that any funding mechanisms developed willneed to be targeted at delivering sustainable transformation.2 Current
proposals to change agricultural policy, food policy and environmental
policy are being pursued separately in traditional silos. Yet Brexit, and theremoval of the EU CAP system, plus the Well-being of Future Generations
Act and NRW’s area-based approaches, provide new opportunities
to dovetail these separately defined policy fields. Sustainable farming,sustainable food policy and wider national environmental policy all need
to be pointing in the same direction based upon the collective vision. In
this sense, and adopting global and UN goals of food sovereignty, Wales
needs to promote its new food policy as a major public policy fordeveloping and delivering sustainable food security for all.

4.3 Infrastructures: re-building sustainable
food provision
These transformations will require changing the shape of our foodinfrastructures to address physical, economic and governance variables.
In many ways, food infrastructures need re-building. Many scholars havetalked about the prevailing ‘missing middle’ in sustainable food supply
chains. To support local supply chains and rebalance the distribution of
power, infrastructure is needed in towns and the countryside to link foodproducers to consumers in more diverse ways. This means more sites
for food markets, community retailers and food processors, investment
in food cooperatives and the development of a network of food hubs that
aggregate and distribute local food. Local authorities should be required
to make plans for developing food hubs, which could facilitate local andregional provisioning and procurement for the public sector as well asprivate buyers.
Wales should embrace and develop digital food markets and supply
chains that link consumers with producers and food hubs. Increasing
citizen ownership and involvement in a more localised food system can
improve community cohesion as well as help shape what is produced

24

and how. These re-localised infrastructures will also allow retailers tostock more local food produced through agroecological based farming
practices.

4.4 Delivery Mechanisms
To realise the new food vision for Wales and build the necessary foodinfrastructure, an integrated set of policies and funding mechanisms
need to be developed. Public Service Board Well-being Plans and Wellbeing Assessments, Natural Resources Wales’s Area Statements andthe school curriculum should be key vehicles to deliver sustainable foodproduction and consumption.
Any post Brexit agricultural and land management policy needs to support
farmers to make the necessary transformations towards sustainable
land management. Welsh Government’s ‘Sustainable Farming and ourLand’ consultation will predominantly reward farmers and land managers
for delivering environmental public goods, such as biodiversity, carbon
sequestration, water and air quality. However, in addition to this, any post
Brexit agricultural and land management policy needs to support
farmers to make the necessary transformations towards sustainable
land management. Enabling changes to agricultural practices needs tobe a central part of Wales’ post Brexit agricultural and land management
support mechanisms, and these need a high degree of linkage with overall
environment and food policy outcomes. Recent economic researchshows that positive economic and income benefits can be considerable
for farmers who make these transitions towards lower stocking levels,a stronger reliance upon pasture-based grazing, elimination of artificial
feeds and fertilisers, and higher levels of farm diversification andagri-forestry in upland farming systems. An example of this transition,
also known as the ‘Less is More’ approach, is shown in case study
6 below. lxx

Case Study 6:
Tony Davies, Henfron Farm,Elan Valley“When I took over the farm over 20 years ago, I adopted
the less is more approach, which included reducing
sheep number from 1800 to 600. We now farm on a low
input organic model which avoids using any imported
fertilizers and very little bought in feed. The beautyof it lies in the fact that it’s actually profitable—we’re abusiness at the end of the day and we do make money.
There is also another benefit…I have created a farmed
landscape which appeals to lots of insects, bees, moths,
butterflies, birds and mammals. The small herd of cattle
that we’ve reintroduced to the farm has done a great
job at managing these habitats, particularly for the
golden plovers nesting on the mountain. And we’re also
producing food! The sheep that are needed to manage
this habitat produce enough meat for 50,000 lambburgers every year.”A new Wales Food Commission should be established to oversee thedelivery of the food system strategy, comprising the Future Generations
Commissioner, Area Statement leads, education and public healthboards, Welsh Government leads on food policy (including agriculture,procurement, health and social care) and food practitioners (including
community-based organisations and environmental NGOs).

to be based upon the development of a collective co created vision—a vision of sustainable transformation—one which progressively
reduces the widening social and economic disparities we now face whenit comes to food, diet and health. There is nothing more fundamental (orindeed ‘Foundational’3) than this for arresting the risks under which we are
currently putting our youth and our environment.

We also recommend, as highlighted above, creating a National Universal
Food Framework to ensure all Welsh people have the right to accesshealthy food.

In advocating this approach to re-building food policy in Wales as partof the UK, as these arguments are based on long-running evidencebased scientific research, we need to understand that a major barriercannot continue to be incremental and fragmented government actions.
Welsh Government needs to proactively build a new consensus aroundthe shared and derived vision; and then evolve a new governanceinfrastructure which explicitly progresses the Act’s five ways of working
and aligns the food system to the Act’s well-being goals. This report has
focussed upon what Wales and its devolved governance structures cando, by specifying 10 major areas and building blocks for transformation(see 4.2 above) and indeed where Wales in the context of the UK after
Brexit can take the innovative lead. This building blocks for transformationneed to be supported by the development of the appropriate
infrastructures and delivery mechanisms, including the creation, as we
propose, of a National Universal Food Framework, and it means
jettisoning traditional modes of consultation, by creating, in cooperation
with local authorities, their Public Service Boards and their well-beingplans and goals, new participatory approaches at local, regional andnational levels.

5. Conclusions: Policies fortransformation.
This paper advocates what many might see as a radical set of proposals
for reconfiguring and realigning food policy in ways which stimulate anecessary and urgent total food transformation in Wales, with ambitions
to extend and relate to the post Brexit UK. Unlike 2010 when Food from
Wales : Food for Wales was prepared, a decade of financial-state austerity,
the recognition of systemic dysfunctionalities in food diets and foodpoverty, rising awareness of both the climate and nature crisis, and thepolicy vacuum created by Brexit, now means that national governments
and wider public authorities need to take more urgent concerted andcoordinated action to stem the nature of this humanitarian crisis. Thisis a crisis which contravenes global international human rights and UN
sustainable development goals and particularly affects the young
and vulnerable.
Fortunately, Wales holds its own independent statutory Well-beingof Future Generations Act framework; and importantly the five ways
of working in partnership and collaboration with others which should
statutorily require government bodies to centrally address this urgent
agenda. Developing a food system strategy for Wales as public policy
thus needs to be centrally aligned to the Act. This is far more, as thispaper argues, than a ‘ticking box’ exercise associated with different
incremental and fragmented policy statements and conventional
consultation exercises.
It requires a new and refreshed approach to sustainable food governance.
For too long, food governance has been part of the problem rather thanpart of the solution.
This is not just a role for Welsh Government, although Welsh Government
needs to take the lead. It means developing a collaborative andpreventative governance approach that builds an infrastructure that is
sufficiently robust—both horizontally (in integrating and progressing a
genuine systems approach) and vertically (in operating across different
governance and spatial scales). As we argue, this infrastructure needs

In writing this report we clearly recognise that the proposals developed
here will need further refinement, specification and development in
the short term. For instance, a more specific and in-depth debate andconsideration, and a pragmatic plan of actions and timings will need to be
developed over both a five and ten-year time period. We recognise that
this transformation will take this length of time, but urgently recommendthat the time to start this process is now. We recognise that open andmore formalised channels of policy mediation will need to be developed
between Welsh food policy and that developing across the UK. Given theuncertainties (and indeed potential opportunities) posed by the UK-wide
need to develop a new governance framework for food, not least in thearea of food standards and trade post Brexit, these actions and strategies
are all the more urgent for Wales.lxxi
We know people and their communities care about food; we also
know that people are increasingly demanding actions on the part ofgovernments to act to create safe and nutritious ways of feeding the
population. Food indeed can build and regenerate communities, and as weknow is part of the Foundational Economy. Government needs to lead andempower these community and cooperative actions not least throughprogressing a national food system transformation.

2

There are important policy decisions to be made regarding future farm support concerning public payments for farmers to protect and enhance the environment. Current
EU CAP policies are not adequate to develop the sustainable transformations needed to our farmed landscapes, partly because they still rely upon an ‘income foregone’
assumption which means that farmers get subsidised for the potential ‘loss’ of income if they pursue environmental studentship practices. Evidence from across Europe
shows that such policies are not enough, and indeed are driving negative outcomes for nature, water, air, soil and our landscapes.
Brexit provides an opportunity to radically change these policy assumptions, and to ‘raise the regulatory bar’ on what the public expect regarding standard farm practices,at the same time as targeting any public support payments towards changes and distinct improvements in sustainable farm practices. These public payments thus needcarefully targeting so as to change farm practices, and be backed up by sound advice and farm plans. (see recent Environment, Climate Change and Rural Affairs Report,
Welsh Assembly November, 2019).

3

We recognise that the Welsh Government has embraced and funded projects under its policy to develop the ‘Foundational Economy’ in Wales under its recent Economic
Action Plan, and would propose ways of developing this approach to food policy especially in supporting independent food businesses and, indeed farm businesses.
There is no reason why farming should be seen as outside of this policy arena of Welsh economic policy.

25Endnotesi.

Experts agree that there needs to be “a radical rethink of business models, food systems, civil society involvement, and national and international governance” to address the interlinked crises of obesity (The Lancet Commission on Obesity, 2019), undernutrition, poverty (Statement on
Visit to the United Kingdom, by Professor Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, 2018), climatechange (IPCC 2019 Climate Change and Land) and ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss (State of Nature 2019; IPBES 2019 Global
Assessment Report on biodiversity and ecosystem services).

xxxiii.

Food for Wales, Food from Wales 2010 2020, December 2010xxxiv.

Public Policy Institute for Wales, Food Policy as Public Policy, June 2016

xxxv.

Welsh Government, Towards Sustainable Growth - an Action Plan for the Food and Drink Industry 2014-2020, accessed January 2020

xxxvii. Written response by the Welsh Government to the report of the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee entitled Rethinking
Food in Wales: Public Procurement of Food. 24 August 2018

ii.

The Trussell Trust, End of Year Stats, accessed January 2020

iii.

Food Standards Agency, Food Security in Wales, March 2018

iv.

The Food Foundation, Affordability of the UK’s Eatwell Guide, September 2018xxxviii. Adams, M (2014) studied the re-location and movements of foods in the dairy, beef and horticultural sectors in Wales and England. PhD
Thesis Cardiff University: ‘Regional food systems in Transition’ (hard copy available). All three sectors have lost local and regional processing
infrastructures over the past decade, most recently meat processing and dairy processing.

v.

Public Health Wales, The case for action on obesity in Wales, 2018

xxxix.

Public Policy Institute for Wales, Food Policy as Public Policy, June 2016vi.

Natural Resources Wales, The State of Natural Resources report, 2016xxl.

Royal Society of Arts, Our Future in the Land, July 2019

vii.

The National Biodiversity Network, State of Nature Report, 2019xli.

Public Policy Institute for Wales, Food Policy as Public Policy, June 2016 (see page 28)

viii.

The National Biodiversity Network, State of Nature Report, 2019

xlii.

ix.

The National Biodiversity Network, State of Nature Report, 2019x.

National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory, Greenhouse Gas Inventories for England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland: 1990-2016, June 2018

xi.

WWF, Risky Business, October 2017

xii.

See De Schutter, O, Jacobs, N, Clement, C et al ‘Towards a Common Food policy for the European Union: the policy reform and realignment thatis required to build sustainable food systems in Europe. Brussels: IPES-Food, 2019. Food, Farming and Countryside Commission. Royal Societyof Arts, Our Future in the Land, July 2019; and Eat-Lancet, Healthy Diets From Sustainable Food Systems January 2019. https://www.thersa.org/
globalassets/reports/rsa-ffcc-our-future-in-the-land.pdf

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights16 (ICESCR) is an international treaty which aims to ensure the protection of
economic, social and cultural rights, such as the rights to work, social security, health and education. Article 11(1) of the Covenant recognises theright of everyone to an adequate standard of living, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living
conditions. Article 11(2) guarantees the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger, and obliges State Parties (i.e. those countries thathave ratified the Covenant, hereafter referred to as ´states´) to take steps in this regard, including the improvement of methods of distribution offood, and dissemination of knowledge concerning the principles of nutrition.

xliii.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food is an independent expert appointed by the UN to examine, monitor, advise and publicly report on
realisation of the right to food – see http://www.srfood.org/en, accessed January 2020

xliv.

UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Jean Ziegler, Promotion and Protection of all Human Rights, Civil, Political, Economic, Social andCultural Rights, including the Right to Development, 2008, para. 17, available at: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to foodxiii.

Natural Resources Wales, The State of Natural Resources report, 2016xiv.

The National Biodiversity Network, State of Nature Report, 2019xlv.

NatCen Social Research, Food Security in Wales, March 2018 (See pg.2)

xv.

National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory, Greenhouse Gas Inventories for England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland: 1990-2016, June 2018

xlvi.

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Natural Resources Wales, Advice note on the Water Framework Directive, November 2017

xlvii.

Van Dillen, S.M., de Vries, S., Groenewegen, P.P. and Spreeuwenberg, P., 2012. Greenspace in urban neighbourhoods and residents’ health: adding
quality to quantity. J Epidemiol Community Health, 66(6), pp.e8-e8; Speldewinde, P.C., Cook, A., Davies, P. and Weinstein, P., 2009. A relationshipbetween environmental degradation and mental health in rural Western Australia. Health & place, 15(3), pp.880-887.

xlviii.

Such an approach has been extensively tested and implemented by Hilary Cottam in experiments to create new ways of working within welfare
programmes addressing jobs, elderly, health, and youth services. These approaches have been shown to be successful in achieving well-being
objectives and do so at a fraction of the cost of current welfare programmes. For more information, see Cottam, H., 2018. Radical help: How we canremake the relationships between us and revolutionise the welfare state. Hachette UK.

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xix.

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xxi.

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xxii.

Many policy reports including those from the farm unions and studies by the Parliamentary Welsh Affairs Committee (1999, 2002) have indicatedthat processors and especially retailers are powerful price setters in agri-food chains from Wales. Such reports led to the establishment of the
Office of the Grocery Adjudicator to oversee contracting practices in UK food supply chains. But this had done little to address more equitable
sharing of value regarding producers, with the powers of the Adjudicator limited with regard to direct contracting arrangements between
producers and retailers. By 2015, the top four supermarkets in the UK accounted for 73.7% of UK markets share. The level of retail concentration in
the UK prompted investigations by the Competition Commission and has been described as a form of ‘asymmetric oligopsonistic’ power where
the number of buyers is small while the number of sellers is large (Hollingsworth, 2004). Increasing retail concentration: evidence from the UK retailsector. British Food Journal, 106, 8, 629-638.

xlix.

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27

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see for instance the start of discussions by the UK Trade Policy Observatory, University of Sussex about the potential multi-level governance‘vacuum’ developing in the UK post-Brexit. Lydgate, E, Anthony, C, Millstone, E (2019) Destruction of the Union: too high a price to pay for a US Trade
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Sanderson Bellamy, A. and T Marsden. 2020.
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(Cardiff UK: Cardiff University).