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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 11 March 2025
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Displaying 2045 contributions

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Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee

Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 2 February 2022

Jim Fairlie

I was interested in Iain Gulland’s point regarding collaboration across local authorities. My understanding is that the bill is an enabling one that will allow us to create a shift in the culture around how we use food, what food is and how people feel about their food. Certainly over the past 20 years, we have made huge strides in Scotland to improve food quality, but there is a wee dichotomy for me. It is about the coherence between the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill and other upcoming legislation and policy changes, such as the agriculture bill, the circular economy bill, the natural environment bill and even the human rights bill. How do we connect those things so that they work in tandem?

I will go to Iain Gulland first on that—sorry about that.

Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee

Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 2 February 2022

Jim Fairlie

Thank you very much.

I will go to Jo Teece next. We heard earlier from some of the other panel members about the national planning framework. We can have all the education we like but, ultimately, we need the availability of the kind of foods that you, as a dietician, would want to see our young people eating. How can the private sector play its role?

Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee

Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 2 February 2022

Jim Fairlie

Jill Muirie will probably remember that, when the hungry for success approach was implemented, East Ayrshire went at it hammer and tongs and created a gold standard. Can the private sector be encouraged to get involved in that way in your area?

Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee

Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 2 February 2022

Jim Fairlie

Claire Hislop, what are your thoughts?

Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee

Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 26 January 2022

Jim Fairlie

The question is for Pete Ritchie, who talked about the affordability of food. We are hearing from all the panellists about food insecurity—for example, we have heard that 43 per cent of universal credit claimants feel food insecurity—and the ability to buy food. How do we marry up the point about the affordability of food with the cost of production in this country? We want to produce good-quality food here locally. How do we get the income of the people who desperately need the food to marry up to the cost of producing it in the first place?

Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee

Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 26 January 2022

Jim Fairlie

Is your point that the UK Government could challenge the Scottish Government’s plans to bring in stronger legislation later on?

Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee

Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 26 January 2022

Jim Fairlie

It leaves me with more questions, but we do not have time to go into them all today, unfortunately.

Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee

Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 26 January 2022

Jim Fairlie

I will make my question brief. It is targeted to John Davidson, in particular. First, I note what a fantastic and successful industry the Scottish food and drink sector is at the moment. It is important that we bear that in mind.

I want to specifically focus on ambition 2030. We have clearly had huge turmoil over the past couple of years. Does ambition 2030 still stand, and is there a way of linking it to the overall plan of the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill?

Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee

Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 26 January 2022

Jim Fairlie

Pete Ritchie, I will come back to you but this question could land with anybody. If someone is going to have the right to food, they would want all the other rights, including the right to shelter, the right to health and the right to education. Rather than singling out the right to food in this bill, surely we would be better to have it in the overall human rights bill that is coming later this year, so that it is incorporated with all those other rights. Rather than making that single provision for the right to food—not that I dispute the idea that we have a right to food; I absolutely agree with that 100 per cent—would it not be better for it to be tied into a bill that incorporates all our rights?

Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee

Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 26 January 2022

Jim Fairlie

The question is directly to Jonnie Hall, although I want to come back to John Davidson later on the role of Scotland Food & Drink, the “Ambition 2030” document and the role of public-private partnership.

Jonnie Hall talked about how Scots should enjoy and be proud of their food. Paragraph 8 of the policy memorandum says:

“it is the norm for Scots to take a keen interest in their food, knowing what constitutes good food, valuing it and seeking it out whenever they can”.

There are also a couple of related points at paragraphs 20 and 25, although I will not quote them.

I am interested in what Jonnie Hall said about the farming community getting more back from the marketplace, which I absolutely endorse. However, we have also heard about food insecurity and people living impoverished lives and who cannot get access to good-quality food. How do we make the bill work so that we subsidise or support our farming community to produce the best-quality food but at the same time we make it available? If the farming community wants to take more out of the marketplace, how do we bridge that gap?