Michael Gove has recognised the role livestock will play in future farming systems as he identified meat a "crucial part" to a balanced diet.
The comments were made by the Defra Secretary at a conference on the Future of UK Farming, organised by the Sustainable Food Trust.
The Environment Secretary was careful not to pre-empt the conclusions of Defra’s consultation on the future of UK agricultural policy, which ends on 8 May.
However, he set out his vision for the UK and became the first Defra Minister to accept the link between sustainable food systems and healthy diets.
Mr Gove said: “How we produce our food is also about the health of the environment – our universal life support system,” which must be protected and enhanced, “Or else we hack at the roots of the tree of life.”
Hinting at Defra’s direction of travel, the Minister continued: “There is a growing public interest in where our food comes from. How it’s grown, how animals are kept, what the impact of particular methods of cultivation might be.
“And there is a growing public interest in the impact of our current diet on our health. We are moving from a world where the major killers were communicable diseases... to one where the principal causes of mortality are non-communicable diseases, such as heart and lung disease, cancer and diabetes.”
'Critical'
The Sustainable Food Trust has argued for recognition that in the UK grazing animals and red meat are critically important to sustainable food production and healthy diets.
Mr Gove said improving the UK's national diet is an important job for British farmers.
“A balanced diet, rich in fresh fruit and vegetables, beans, pulses and cereals, fresh dairy produce and protein sources such as fresh fish, offal and properly sourced meat is critical to human health and flourishing,” he told the audience.
Patrick Holden, Chief Executive of the Sustainable Food Trust, said: “The atmosphere of this conference and the reception to the new thinking about the need to rebuild soil fertility and biodiversity through a mainstream switch to sustainable food systems suggests we are nearing a tipping point.
“Farmers and land managers representing many hundreds of thousands of acres gathered here at Fir Farm to learn more about the opportunity and challenges of switching to sustainable food production. Reception to the presentations confirms my impression that we are nearing a tipping point where a major scale transition to mixed farming, reintegrating food production with nature conservation and rebuilding soil fertility will be possible.”
Defra plans to overhaul the farming subsidy system so farmers are paid for environmental services such as improving soils and levels of biodiversity, viewing Brexit as a unique opportunity.
