But don't be fooled by first appearances: there is still plenty in the report for the food industry to digest. And Sir Don Curry, who chaired the commission, said nobody should be too surprised by the strong farming focus. If one message came through loud and clear when the commission was gathering evidence, he said, it was that any significant decline in the country's farming base would be bad news for the processors and retailers who relied on British produce. Given the plight of most farmers, that bleak prospect could still become a reality. The commission rightly says the current situation is "dysfunctional" and says that is due partly to the fact farming is detached from the economy and the environment. "We need a viable and profitable farming which is sustainable going into the future," Sir Don told The Grocer. "That can only be achieved through a radical review of policy. The farming industry has been heavily focused on production subsidies but we need the market to deliver. To achieve that we have to get efficiency at every link in the chain." That's why the report calls for radical reform of CAP as well as support for mechanisms that allow public money to be switched away from subsidising production and into support for rural development and "broad but shallow"environmental measures. "Farming needs to be profitable through efficient food production and not a reliance on subsidies," said Sir Don. He accepts it will take time to achieve reform at an EU level. But he pointed out that the UK government was committed to change and said there was a new mood for reshaping the CAP in many member states. This could lead to significant reform of Europe's discredited farm policy ­ hopefully at the mid-term review later this year, but almost certainly during the full review in 2005/06. Optimistic? Perhaps. But an important point to remember is that the commission's report is a vision of how it thinks the food chain should look in 10 or 15 years time. Sir Don readily accepts that between now and then many farmers may decide to quit in the face of what will be almost irresistible change. "The challenges we face today will not be fixed by quick and easy solutions. We need radical change to refocus and reconnect. We can't achieve that by tinkering at the edges. For some this will be difficult to accept," he said. By the same token, those that remain need to be better equipped to meet the challenges they will face. "We are trying to make sure there are available to farmers all the key supports required to adjust to meet this vision," Sir Don said. Key to it all is ensuring there is better communication along the food chain and more collaboration between farmers as well as between them and their customers. That's the only way to ensure farmers get closer to their markets and produce what is required and thereby improve continuity of supply. With all of this in mind, it's clear the proposed Food Chain Centre will play an important part in this whole area of "reconnecting the supply chain" (see page 4). Reconnection is the main theme of the commission's report to government. But if, as Sir Don and his team believe, farmers need to be reconnected to the rest of the food chain, those same farmers would be justified in asking why the report makes little mention of the pivotal role played by supermarkets. The OFT's code of practice for supermarkets has come in for a lot of flak since it was first drafted ­ not only from farmers. But the commission has stopped short of calling for wholesale changes. Sir Don said that would have been "inappropriate" given the code was at such an early stage of development. "It's a first step. We believe it should go further but at least we have a code in existence," he said. The commission has called for all suppliers, retailers and foodservice companies to sign up to the code. It also wants IGD to help run an independent mediation service for resolving disputes. And it wants the OFT to review the code in two years' time. None of which will be enough for the biggest critics of the supermarkets. "We have not taken the populist route of criticising supermakets," explained Sir Don. "It's far too easy for farmers to make critical comments about their power. The answer is to have strong supply chains. And that's something the retailers told us they wanted to see." That's why Sir Don and his fellow commissioners have lent their weight to calls for farmers to set up more co-operatives and other collaborative ventures. He said farmers were readier than ever to embrace such thinking ­ and urged the competition authorities not to undermine co-operative initiatives. The report does contain a few specific recommendations targeted at supermarkets, such as a call for the big multiples to re-examine their supply routes with a reduction in the transport of animals to centralised slaughter plants one of its specific priorities. Better distribution will also be key to the future success of local foods ­ which the commission believes could be the next big thing. Some supermarket chains are already working to expand their local sourcing. The commission wants Regional Development Authorities to look at ways of boosting distribution and processing capabilities in their areas. And the report says retailers should receive business rate relief if they give over part of their supermarkets to let local producers sell to the public. Sir Don accepts that at the moment local food is a small part of the overall market. But he said the growing interest in foods with a strong regional provenance offered farmers an invaluable opportunity to get closer to the market and add value to what they sell. Increasing the availability of local food is one way to help reconnect consumers with what they eat ­ about which the commissioners has plenty to say. For starters, it calls for the Red Tractor mark to become a baseline standard for all food production ­ with a much stronger emphasis on the environment and animal welfare. Once the schemes are in place, the commission wants the Red Tractor mark to be better promoted. Running in tandem with this initiative are calls for a more honest approach for all food labelling ­ in the hope this will provide the information necessary to bridge the gap between producer and consumer. And the commission is backing calls for compulsory country of origin labelling on as much food as possible. That's not all. The country's nutrition crisis is discussed in the report ­ as are a whole raft of ideas about how the crisis should be tackled by government and industry. The key in all of this, said Sir Don, was for industry, government and other stakeholders to work together to drive real change. He urged all parties not to cherrypick the commission's recommendations but instead implement the report in its entirety ­ otherwise, he warned, the holistic package would fail. Sir Don emphasised the fact that commissioners were able to reach consensus in producing the report. And that point was not lost on DEFRA's Margaret Beckett who was quick to endorse the broad analysis and agreed the trick now was to turn consensus into action. "We will do our bit but we can't do it on our own. The impetus has to come from the industry," she added. Beckett would not be drawn on whether the report would be implemented in its entirety. Nor would she comment on whether the Treasury would stump up the £500m needed to implement the report. But she did say: "We firmly intend that the kind of ideas put forward will make a substantial contribution to a new strategy for farming we intend to launch in the summer." Consultation starts next month with Beckett promising to hold "detailed and practical discussions" with all parties. Whatever comes out of those, it is vital for the entire food chain there is no loss of momentum. Otherwise foot and mouth will be just another crisis not a turning point. l See Opinion, page 18 {{NEWS }}