Cameron: Ban fake British labels on food
David Cameron is demanding a crackdown on foreign produced food being sold as British.
The Tory leader has attacked imported products that are labelled as British after being processed here.
Highlighting a rise in "food patriotism" - with more people wanting to buy local products -he is set to call for better labelling so shoppers are not misled.
"Today British consumers can find it difficult to back British farmers, because of inadequate labelling" he will tell a farming conference.
Mr Cameron will say: "Food can be imported to Britain, processed here, and subsequently labelled in a way that suggests it's genuinely British. That is completely wrong. Effective marketing can only be achieved if labelling is accurate and clear."
Meanwhile, Environment Secretary David Miliband, also addressing the Oxford Farming Conference, will signal that imported food could rise in price as part of moves to tackle climate change.
"In food, that means greenhouse gases generated in producing food or in food miles carrying a price," he is due to tell the conference.
Mr Miliband will go on: "If UK farming prepares now for this new future, it can get ahead. The UK can become leaders in green farming - developing innovations that reduce the use of natural resources and reduce pollution." He will also argue that the market for biofuels will grow "substantially" as demand for renewable fuel increases.
"Global warming creates problems - but it will also create new markets and new opportunities," he is expected to say.
Meanwhile, National Farmers' Union president Peter Kendall will insist that pesticides and fertilisers are "essential" for meeting the planet's food needs. Farmers will need modern techniques to produce enough food for the world's growing population, says the NUF chief.
"We must reduce our environmental impact, but given population projections we can't do that simply by reducing production," he will tell farmers.
Mr Kendall will go on to say: "Pesticides and fertilisers are not evils; on the contrary, they are essential to achieve the goals of meeting the planet's production demands without using more land."
He will also attack the British Potato Council for recently speaking out against a trial of genetically modified potatoes, saying: "What sort of message does this rejection give to investors who I want to see the UK as go-ahead and progressive? I want companies to invest in our future with us, and not go elsewhere."
Mr Kendall describes organic production as an "integral and growing" part of commercial farming, but will say: "I am fed up with some of the high priests of the organic movement who feel they must demonise conventional farming."
