Food for thought

In the last editorial I wrote some 2 months ago I drew attention to the effects of the war in Ukraine, and particularly the enhanced risk of disease transmission that inevitably accompanies such mayhem and the associated movement of people, animals, and animal products going along with inadequate surveillance. Little did I know that within weeks we would have a suspected case of foot and mouth disease or swine vesicular disease in England! This suspect case probably has nothing whatsoever to do with the unrest in Ukraine, and thankfully proved to be a false alarm, but it does remind us of the enhanced risk currently, and the need for us to be cognisant of that risk, and remain hypervigilant, as I said previously ‘keep your eyes open and expect the unexpected’.

The other big news story for our sector in recent weeks has been the publication of the government food strategy, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-food-strategy. This long-awaited publication seeks to outline the government's strategy towards food production and supply in England and I would urge all those with an interest in nutrition, agriculture, and food supply chains to read it.