The food and farming sector has been told it will have an essential role to play in lifting the UK out of the recession, a gathering of MPs and officials in Westminster has been told.
"Absolutely central to this is the success of British food and farming," DEFRA secretary Caroline Spelman MP said at an event in London organised by supermarket Morrisons.
"The sector has fared better than other sectors during the recession and that is because British consumers want to support what you do," Mrs Spelman said.
Peter Kendall, NFU president, added that he was confident farmers would help drive growth.
"What I think is really important for the farming industry, at a very difficult time for the country, is actually as farmers we offer solutions," he told the Summer Party gathering.
"What I want the farming industry to do over the next few months is to really be up to the challenge of playing a part in how we build the recovery in the economy."
Mrs Spelman also said DEFRA would push for Red Tractor-branded British produce to be used more widely in the public sector.
"You will hear from your ministerial team a lot of support to encourage the public sector to procure food produced to red tractor standard, which is the best in the world."
Jim Paice, DEFRA farming minister, said agriculture and food manufacturing were the UK's biggest employer and in his role he wanted to encourage more integration.
"My approach is to see this all as a wide, huge food supply chain - all separate but integrated," he said.
"Farming isn't an industry we can push aside and say, 'that was part of British history', it has as big a role in the future as it ever did in the past."
Source: Farmers Weekly Interactive
