The food and drink industry represents the UK’s largest manufacturing sector, which has a huge potential for sustainable growth. But it also faces some significant challenges including access to investment and a skilled work force. In order to unlock the promise of this sector so that it can provide some of the goods and services we need to trade our way out of debt, we need to work on addressing these challenges - everything from farm gate to plate.

I am passionate about developing sustainable growth within the food industry. That is why I have worked to promote the need for strategic research into agri-sci and agri-tech through the Life Science Strategy that I helped to compile last year and why I continue to champion the value of an innovation driven economy. Yesterday, in a packed Westminster meeting room at the APPG for the Food and Drink Industry with the science Minister David Willetts and industry representatives ranging from organic tomato growers to the head of PepsiCo , we talked about the importance of looking at what improvements can be made across the whole supply chain of the food industry.

We need joined-up thinking to make this sector a model of sustainable growth, which is why I will continue to work with the APPG and the Food and Drink Federation to improve the integration of innovation and technology into the food and drink industry at all levels; from production, to processing, to packaging.


You can find out more about The Food and Drink Federation on their website.

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Follow these links to read more of my ideas on how innovation and entrepreneurship can lead the UK’s economic recovery and the potential of the agri-tech and agri-sci industries, or visit my Innovation blog