Search

Home > Farming Today > 17/07/25 National Food Strategy, rural affordable housing, early soft fruit


	Podcast:		Farming Today
	Episode:		17/07/25 National Food Strategy, rural affordable housing, early soft fruit
	Category:		Science & Medicine
	Duration:		00:14:06
	Publish Date:		2025-07-17 05:00:00
	Description:		Has the Government’s Food Strategy been watered down? It wasn’t launched with a huge fanfare, but Defra has published its Food Strategy for England. It aims to create what it calls a Good Food Cycle, a framework to make food production more sustainable, radically overhaul our relationship with food and prepare farmers and food producers for future challenges. The National Farmers' Union has welcomed the document though says it needs to be backed up by “joined-up and pragmatic policy measures”. But there are concerns the strategy’s been watered down and that a food white paper expected next year has been dropped. Most rural councils have no targets for building the social housing that many people on the lowest incomes rely on, and the government now says they don’t need to set any; that’s according to a new study from the University of the West of England. The soft fruit harvest is in full swing and the recent sweltering weather has proved something of a challenge for the thousands of seasonal workers labouring under polytunnels to bring in a crop which has ripened early this year. We’re exploring different aspects of the UK’s soft fruit sector all through this week. Today we visit a Nottinghamshire farm producing around 2500 tonnes of strawberries and raspberries each year. Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
	Total Play:		0