That the Government has a food strategy at all is a welcome development. Recent policy was simply that free international markets would provide Britain with all the food it needs.

But the shock of the food price rises in 2008, the increasing impact of climate change and dire predictions about how difficult it will be to feed 9 billion humans in 2050 led the prime minister’s strategy unit to insist on a new approach.

The strategy unit’s seminal report Food Matters made it very clear that consumer power and the market alone will not make the food system more sustainable. Government leadership is vital.

Today’s announcement was billed as the government’s response to Food Matters. But the new strategy is filled with small and ‘soft’ initiatives that aim to gently shift consumer behaviour: ‘people power’ as Hilary Benn termed it. The plan, Food 2030, rejects the strategy unit’s conclusion that this approach will not work and eschews Government leadership in favour of a faith that somehow consumers will lead fundamental change in the food system.

The pity is that there are many moderate and popular ways the government could make real change quickly. Two examples: the state spends £2 billion annually on food, much of which is unsustainable and poor quality; yet simple and inexpensive mandatory procurement rules could ensure the public sector kick-starts the process of change in our agricultural system. At the same time, junk food damages both children’s health and the environment yet the government is proposing to allow it to be marketed through product placement. Action to stop the ubiquitous nature of junk food marketing will do more to change our food culture than any number of weak, voluntary efforts to unleash ‘people power.’