The government

1
The governments role in enabling sustainable
food production and consumption

• Anne Moxnes Jervell
• National Institute for Consumer Research (SIFO)
• Food safety and sustainability, a common project
  of producers and consumers?
• Utrecht, 23rd June 2005
• Rural Sociology Group, Wageningen University

2
A Norwegian view..
Inge Grødum, Aftenposten 1999
3
Farming on the margin..
Norway marginal farming
Land Type of total land area
Mountains 48
Productive Forest 22
Unproductive Forest 15
Bogs and wetland 6
Lakes, glaciers 5
Agricultural land 3
Urban Land 1
4
Producer Support Estimates
5
Topics

• Sustainable food production
• Local production vs trade
• Environmental vs social sustainability
• Sustainable food consumption
• Food security
• Nutrition and health effects
• The role of government
• Agricultural policy
• Food safety regulation
• Consumer and nutritional policy

6
Sustainable food production and consumption

• Definition of sustainability
• Sustainable development is development that meets
  the needs of the present without compromising the
  ability of future generations to meet their own
  needs. Brundtland Report (World Commission on
  Environment Development)
• Producing and consuming without reducing the
  (total) capital available for future use.

7
Local food production vs trade?

• Local production has local effects
• Negative externalities (pollution, lasting
  effects?)
• Restrictions and regulations, organic agriculture
• Positive externalities (landscape)
• Subsidies, basis for tourism, quality of life
• Trade in global commodities can
• increase efficiency in resource use
• remove consumers from negative external effects
  of production

8
Ex. Local and global markets
Figur fra Forsman 2001 Resource-Based Strategy
Analysis A Case of Local Food Processing Firms
in Finland, In Borgen (ed) The Food Sector in
Transition- Nordic Research, NILF-Report 2001-2
9
Ex. Local agenda 21 initiatives
Municipalities focusing environmental costs of
imported foods and the question of local food
supply

10
Environmental vs social sustainability

• Environmental sustainability production without
  negative effects on environmental capital
• Effects of farm structure on environment
  (monocult)
• Effects of farming systems on environment
  (pesticides)
• Indirect effects from transport (global warming)
• Social sustainability production with positive
  effects on human and social capital
• The regional population and employment effects of
  local agricultural and food production
• The welfare and distributional effects of trade

11
Sustainable food consumption?

• Food security
• Long term food security
• Productive capacity, management of resources
  (fisheries)
• A sustainable diet (in periods of shortage ex WW
  2)
• Meat consumption
• Health effects
• National nutrition policies promoting a healthy
  diet
• Rising obesity rates and diabetes prevalence

12
Nutrition policies

• From policies directed towards supplying enough
  foods dominated the post-war period,
• focus shifted in the 1970s and 1980s towards
  reducing the intake of fat.
• Protectionism and food prices countries with
  higher pSE levels (and food prices) have lower
  obesity rates..
• But prices of food commodities have a
  diminishing share of total food prices.

13
Consumption trends
Food Item Norway 1980 Norway 1998 US 1999 France 1998
Meat 74.1 85.5 98.4 112.7
Fish 22.0 25.2 6.9 24.82
Eggs 10.8 10.3 14.9 14.9
Cheese 11.8 14.2 12.5 32.13
Fluid milk 165.5 128.6 85.9 69.0
Whole milk 142.6 32.6 31.3
Soft drinks 26.7 67.2 196.6
Vegetables 44.7 60.7 191.0 123.7
14
Diverging trends in the food markets?

• Globalization and international standardization
• Trans-national companies
• Globally converging consumption patterns
• AND
• Local differentiation
• Food related tourism
• Interest in speciality products in the
  high-income population

15
The case for local or regional food

• Value-adding
• Cultural identity and traditional products
• Food as part of a tourism product
• Quality and freshness
• Environmental effects
• Positive environmental effects of food production
• Sustainability and self-sufficiency
• Development
• Producer-consumer contact stimulates innovation
• Increased diversity and differentiation

16
The ABC of Policies that affect food
productionand consumption

• Agro-food sector policies (agricultural policy,
  food sector regulation)
• Support to production in non-competitive regions
• Regulation and competition policy
• Barriers to food trade (tariffs, standards, TBT)
• Reductions in tariffs
• Increased importance of technical barriers
• Consumer policy and food safety regulations
• Nutrition policies, labeling, nutritional
  information
• Hygienic standards, traceability, disease control

17
Ministry of agriculture and foodhttp//odin.dep.n
o/lmd/html/multifunc/
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food is
responsible for food and agricultural
policymaking. The food policy aims to provide
consumers with wholesome, high quality food
products, and to ensure that the food production
process is carried out with environmental, public
health and animal welfare concerns in mind.
Multifunctional agriculture the case of Norway
Beyond its primary role of producing food and
fibreagriculture also contributes to the
viability of rural areas, food security, the
cultural heritage and environmental benefits such
as the agricultural landscape, agro-biological
diversity, land conservation and high standards
of plant, animal and public health.
18
Ex. Organic agriculture

• The role of government
• Setting goals Norway 10 of acreage in
  organic farming
• Subsidizing conversion
• Certification bodies and labelling systems
• BUT in Norway only 10-30 of organic food is
  sold and consumed as organic
• Public procurement of organic products (ex
  Denmark)

19
Ex. International standards
20
Ex. Food Safety and consumers

• The Norwegian Food Safety Authority is a
  governmental body. Our goal is that consumers
  should have healthy and safe food and safe
  drinking water. We promote human, plant, fish and
  animal health, environmentally friendly
  production, and ethically acceptable farming of
  animals and fish. The Norwegian Food Safety
  Authority also performs duties relating to
  cosmetics and medicines, and inspects animal
  health personnel.
• www.mattilsynet.no

21
Government
Food
Consumers
Producers
22
Development last 20 years with respect to safety
etc. (gt1 improvement lt1 worse)?
gt1 improved lt1 worse
23
Concluding

• Policies can have negative or positive effects on
  sustainability and the evaluation of effects
  will depend on level (global, regional, local)
• National policies are strongly influenced by
  international context, industry actors
  (producers), and more recently, consumer
  interests.