Speaking at the National Farmers Union (NFU) Annual Conference, the UK’s Environment Secretary David Miliband has outlined the government’s commitment to work with industry to develop environmental labelling for food.

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Miliband said that as environmental quality became an increasingly important factor in consumers’ decisions, he could envisage the next step where, as well as nutritional standards, environmental standards become the norm on food packaging.


“This is not an easy piece of work and will take time, particularly if this includes the whole lifecycle impact of food from production to distribution,” Miliband said. “In the shorter term, we want to develop environmental standards for food production. This could cover a range of factors including energy inputs, fertiliser use, soil management, waste management and water pollution.


Miliband said he wanted Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) to work with producers, retailers, environmental organisations and existing assurance bodies towards agreeing a “green standard”, that informs and empowers consumers and gives farmers recognition in the marketplace. He called for the NFU, industry and government to work together to achieve a shared vision for farming’s future.

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