11:00 Mrs Maria Miller (in the Chair)

We know from global trends, as stated in the food strategy report, that the food we eat and how we produce it can damage both the planet and our health. Globally, 37% of greenhouse gas emissions come from the food system. Here in the UK, the sector engages 70% of our land, contributes 45% of the nitrogen and phosphorus pollution in our rivers and creates 2.2 million tonnes of plastic packaging every year, less than half of which is recycled. Turning to our own bodies, 80% of processed food sold in the UK is unhealthy and we get 57% of our calories from processed foods rich in fat, salt and sugar, with 35% of the population overweight, 27% obese and nearly 5 million people suffering with diabetes due to the over-consumption of processed foods.

This is probably a good moment to reference the work of the University of Nottingham’s Future Food beacon, which is led by Professor Salt. It is a cross-discipline programme to bring together the highest-quality academics from across the world, working with industry, to resolve the thorniest problems in our food systems. The research themes include future-proofing agricultural systems, which is so important in the context of climate change; food for sustainable livelihoods, which I think we in this place are all concerned about, at home and abroad; food for health, which as I have mentioned is a major area of public policy interest; and smart manufacturing for food. That is not the sort of stuff that gets the newspaper headlines, but it is really fascinating. As I said, I spent half a day there and it was great, so I really hope the Minister will do the same—she would really enjoy it. I will not go off on a tangent about my love of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, but that beacon project is an example of where we want Nottingham and Nottinghamshire to be: at the forefront of crucial development to change our world. Our two universities do a great job in that, and I am proud to have the chance to showcase that.

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