The Bristol West MP was appointed to the shadow Defra post following the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the opposition this month.
In her speech to the Labour Party conference in Brighton today (September 29), Ms McCarthy criticised the Environment Secretary Liz Truss for her stance on badger culls, and former Defra secretary of state Owen Paterson for ‘claiming that global warming is a good thing’.
She added that she was ‘proud’ of Labour’s environmental record in office, and that the UK’s continued membership in the European Union is central to future efforts to tackling environmental challenges – and to creating a ‘circular economy’.
“Environmental protection, air pollution, the circular economy, food and farming – our continued membership of the European Union is vital on all these issues and more. We achieve so much more by co-operation than by acting alone.”
Food waste
Ms McCarthy went onto attack the government’s policies on food waste, adding that she wanted to see ‘huge strides’ towards food security.
“Defra isn’t just about farming.
“It’s about the food we all eat, the air we all breathe, the land we live on, the water we drink.
“So how is the government doing?
“More than a million food bank users last year, a third of them children.
“And, while people are going hungry, a third of the food we produce is wasted. Edible food, just thrown away.”
Ms McCarthy has herself spearheaded efforts to oblige supermarkets and food retailers to donate edible food waste to charities and food redistribution organisations, through two separate ‘private members bills’ – the second of which is currently going through the Parliamentary process.
Ms McCarthy’s Food Waste (Prevention) Bill was presented to MPs this month and has won tentative backing from Defra’s resource minister Rory Stewart (see letsrecycle.com story).
Under the proposals put forward in the Bill, large supermarkets, manufacturers and distributors would be required to reduce food waste ‘by no less than 30% by 2025’.
The Bill will also require all parts of the supply chain to enter into formal agreements with food redistribution organisations. MPs will consider the measures further when they are given a second reading in January.
Subscribe for free