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Farming Today: 05/05/20 - Food Strategy, selling milk locally and reducing milk production.

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05/05/20 - Food Strategy, selling milk locally and reducing milk production.

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 05/05/20 - Food Strategy, selling milk locally and reducing milk production.

How will the coronavirus impact the National Food Strategy?

Covid-19 has put the UK's food security under the spotlight - so how will it influence the upcoming National Food Strategy?

Just before the Coronavirus pandemic struck, the government was due to launch its National Food Strategy, headed by Henry Dimbleby, owner of the Leon chain of restaurants. Its original purpose was to look at health, the environment and food security. Anna Hill catches us with Henry Dimbleby and asks whether the current situation will influence the upcoming strategy.

The Coronavirus has put huge pressure on small businesses across the country, but for some it is acting as a catalyst for positive change. Lisa and Sam Bennet run a herd of 150 dairy cows near Chepstow and recently started selling milk locally. Since lockdown started they’ve taken on a new shop each week and have even had to add more staff to their workforce.

Retail sales of milk are not making up for the loss of cafes and restaurants. According to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, more than 2000 dairy farmers have been asked to reduce the amount of milk they're producing. But you can't furlough a dairy cow, so how to you do it? We hear from one dairy farmer.

And we catch up with another audio diarist - the pub landlady, Emie Hawkshaw.

Presented by Anna Hill
Produced by Heather Simons

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