Smaller-sized portions on menu in food masterplan

Announcing the first major Government strategy on food in 60 years, Defra Secretary Hilary Benn will today propose that profit and risk be spread more evenly throughout the food chain to give farmers the chance to earn a higher income.

He will also call for land to be made available for communities to grow their own food and propose that land "brokers" be created to match up local groups with landowners for growing fruit and vegetables.

He will also set out measures to make the farming and food industry more attractive to young people seeking a career as well as plans to make it easier for local producers to win public procurement contracts.

Mr Benn will make the announcement at the Oxford Farming Conference, where he is one of the keynote speakers. He will be joined by his shadow counterpart, Nick Herbert, who will confirm that the Conservatives will throw their weight behind plans for a supermarket ombudsman if elected to office this year.

Mr Benn will also say livestock should be better managed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with farmers urged to continue to reduce their environmental impact and help manage resources and biodiversity.

Crucially he will also formally call for all food labelling to provide clear unambiguous information on where it has been produced, as well as details of the nutritional, environmental and welfare standards of the production process.

Mr Benn will tell delegates in Oxford that, while Britain is not running out of food, the current production system cannot continue as it is.

He will call upon consumers to use their powers to demand more responsibly sourced food as well expressing a desire to return to the days of seasonally produced goods.

A spokesman for Defra said: "The main message is that the time has come for the UK food system to prepare itself for a future which involves climate change, increasing demand for food and increasing competition for natural resources."

The plans have, however, already drawn opposition from campaigners who say the Government's strategy fails to tackle the unsustainable nature of our food and farming system.

Jeanette Longfield, of campaigning group Sustain, criticised the report, saying it recommended only "soft" measures, such as wasting less food, and avoided tough issues, such as reducing children's consumption of junk food.

"The document proposes a series of minor tweaks to our fundamentally unsustainable food system and ignores obvious ideas to help British farmers, like improving the food that Government itself buys," she added.