On Monday (4th September) Andrew Griffith, MP for Arundel and South Downs, hosted a “Farm to Fork Summit” at Brinsbury College for farmers, land-owners and food producers across his South Downs constituency.
The Rt Hon Mark Spencer MP, Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries, attended the summit in order to cultivate an open dialogue between around 40 farmers, food producers and Government representatives.
As one of the best agricultural colleges in the country, Brinsbury College provides the building blocks for those looking to make a career within agriculture, and made for an ideal Summit venue.
Principal, Sally Challis-Manning, and Head of Learning, Paul Burry, gave a warm welcome and emphasised the importance of education and employability for young people in the industry in the week that the first students to a new ‘T Level’ course in Agriculture were arriving at the college.
Following some food production industry insights from business owners Ed Moorhouse and Sarah Payne, and former NFU Chair and farmer, Caroline Harriot, Andrew Griffith opened the floor for attendees to ask the Minister their questions, encouraging a healthy conversation about what can be done to improve food production industry.
With attendees such as local farmers, food infrastructure businesses, the NFU and educators from Brinsbury college, a wide array of topics relevant to food production were addressed, from grant systems and planning matters to environmental schemes and investment in new farming technologies.
Andrew Griffith MP said:
“The ‘Farm to Fork’ concept brings together every aspect of this important sector of our economy: it’s about growers, producers, planners, wholesalers and hospitality all working together to deliver more self-sufficiency in what we eat and drink whilst protecting our natural landscape. And it was great to see first-hand what our local college at Brinsbury is doing to help young people join the industry.
Farming Minister, The Rt Hon Mark Spencer MP added:
“It was great to hear from West Sussex farmers and food producers in the summit near Pulborough. From peat to pesticides and grants to glasshouses we covered many important topics. I will take the insights back with me to DEFRA where our mission is to support the UK’s food producers.”
NFU council delegate for West Sussex Caroline Harriott was one of the guest speakers. She said afterwards:
“We were fortunate to have Secretary of State Thérèse Coffey out here for a farm visit at the beginning of August, so this meeting was a good opportunity to follow up on the discussions we had with her, and we were told the issues we raised over SHINE (Selected Heritage Inventory for Natural England) were being looked at.
“It was a very positive meeting, and we were all on the same page.
“It is important to take these opportunities to have our voices heard.”
ENDS
