Food Security: A Churches Together Approach

Food is one of the few essentials for life. The churches have long been involved with issues relating to its production, distribution and use. The linkages between food and farming are critical to the prosperity of rural areas across the UK. Food has always been a heavily politicized issue. Progress with current food issues requires engagement with Government and with the organizations controlling the food chain such as supermarkets. Here we detail our approach to dialogue and the development of our thinking about the role of the market economy, food security, universal affordability and food access in rural areas of Scotland. Examples such as fair trade and genetic engineering are used to explore how values become embedded in food. We argue for the importance to the UK of food becoming a primary locus for policy-making.