Our Future in the Land

16th July 2019

The actions we take in the next ten years, to stop ecosystems collapse, to recover and regenerate nature and to restore people’s health and wellbeing are now critical.

In this final report, we set out radical and practical ways for policymakers, business and communities to respond to the challenges.

The report makes fifteen recommendations in three areas:

Healthy food is everybody’s business
  • Levelling the playing field for a fair food system – good food must become good business
  • Committing to grow the UK supply of fruit, vegetables, nuts and pulses, and products from UK sustainable agriculture, and to using them more in everyday foods
  • Implementing world-leading public procurement, using this powerful tool to transform the market
  • Establishing collaborative community food plans to help inform and implement national food strategies and meet the different needs of communities around the UK
  • Reconnecting people and nature to boost health and wellbeing
Farming is a force for change, unleashing a fourth agricultural revolution driven by public values
  • Designing a ten-year transition plan for sustainable, agroecological farming by 2030
  • Backing innovation by farmers to unleash a fourth agricultural revolution
  • Making sure every farmer can get trusted, independent advice by training a cadre of peer mentors and farmer support networks
  • Boosting cooperation and collaboration by extending support for Producer Organisations to all sectors
  • Establishing a National Agroecology Development Bank to accelerate a fair and sustainable transition
A countryside that works for all, and rural communities are a powerhouse for a fair and green economy
  • Establishing a national land use framework in England inspires cooperation based on the public value of land, mediating and encouraging multipurpose uses
  • Investing in the skills and rural infrastructure to underpin the rural economy
  • Creating more good work in the regenerative economy
  • Developing sustainable solutions to meet rural housing need
  • Establishing a National Nature Service that employs the energy of young people to kickstart the regenerative economy

Note: this report was originally published on the RSA website (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce), which hosted the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission between November 2017-April 2020.