New plan for Cornwall's food and farming sector

Cornwall's farmers and food producers have launched a new 10-year plan in a bid to become the UK's top region for sustainable food and drink.

The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Agrifood Strategy and Action Plan describes how the food industry could help deliver net zero, care for the environment, improve health and enhance food security.

The strategy has been developed by industry body Cornwall Food and Drink (CFD), which called it the first blueprint for the Cornish industry for more than 20 years.

The strategy has been endorsed by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Economic Forum whose chair, Lord John Hutton, wrote its foreword.

In it he wrote: "Our ambition is to be the UK's number one region for sustainable food and drink and this strategy sets out the path ahead if we are to realise this ambition."

Strategy author and CFD founder Ruth Huxley said the plan would address "key challenges such as sustainability, skills shortages and supply chain resilience".

She said food, drink, farming and fishing in Cornwall generated more than 10% of total GVA (gross value added), which she said was more than twice the national average.

The sector accounts for one in five jobs and a quarter of all businesses in the county, with some 80% of land in Cornwall in agricultural use, she added.

Ms Huxley said part of the plan was to work together with other sectors in the county, including tourism, health, renewable energy and the space industry.

She gave the example of the Eden Project, which uses geothermal energy for its biome and satellite data for its precision farming by measuring grass height from space and tracking livestock.

Follow BBC Cornwall on X, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].