Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Can I say how delighted I am to be able to contribute in this debate today on the Member's food Bill, brought forward by my colleague Peter Fox, which has the potential to create huge opportunities for people up and down Wales? I must say at this point as well that I have also enjoyed Members' references to food in their contributions, from 'bread and butter issues' from over here and 'cutting the mustard' across the room right there as well. I'm sure those puns weren't intentional, but I enjoyed them nonetheless.

As the Bill's explanatory memorandum states, and I quote:

'The purpose of the Bill is to establish a more sustainable food system in Wales to strengthen food security, improve Wales’ socioeconomic well-being, and enhance consumer choice.'

The food sector in Wales has a fundamental role to play in helping to create a more prosperous, healthier and greener Wales. I want to quickly outline four areas in terms of how I think this Bill being proposed today will help us to achieve this more prosperous, healthy and green Wales.

The first one was just mentioned, actually, by Mr Campbell across the way there. I'm sure that all Members get frustrated at the amount of food that's wasted by shops and retailers. A key aspect of this Bill is to require supermarkets and other retailers to donate unwanted and unsold food that's fit for human consumption to charities and food banks to help the most vulnerable in society. I certainly commend those retailers who do this at the moment, but requiring somebody to do that certainly would enhance things, similar to legislation that Mr Fox pointed to already in place in countries like France.

The second area that is important here I think is the Bill's objective to establish a Wales food commission, which will help to ensure a more coherent approach to discussions on food policy in Wales as well as bringing together cross-cutting policy strands and existing plans under one unified governance. I know that some Members here may be nervous about this element of the Bill, but as mentioned before, I see this as the start of a process, the start of the journey for this Bill. We should seek to support this so that it can be further developed and further looked into over the coming months.

The third area, if this Bill is going to support a prosperous, healthy and green Wales, is about tackling those long-standing issues that plague our communities, such as food poverty, malnutrition and obesity, which Members have already so well spoken to this evening. The Bill presses for healthier foods to be available in schools and other educational settings as well as ensuring that families on lower incomes, who generally struggle with obtaining a balanced diet, can access healthy food as well.

The fourth area that is really, really important for us, especially off the back of COP26, is the huge environmental benefits that the proposals in this Bill will bring to our country. This Bill puts Welsh agriculture at the heart of our nation's food security, leading to high-quality produce, but also environmentally friendly produce. Furthermore, focusing on more sustainable produce will see an improvement in the local environment, whilst also reducing those all-important food miles.

Those are four areas that I've described there that will help to achieve a more prosperous, healthy and green Wales. And it's not just Members in this room, of course, who have supported this, but it's been really encouraging to note the Bill's endorsement by the Farmers Union of Wales and the National Farmers Union Cymru, as well as many others.

I do often note the Welsh Government's plea for positive contributions from all sides of this Chamber, and I was really pleased that today we have something that seems to me to be really positive and non-political, really, in its motives, supported by experts in the food sector, to establish a more sustainable food system in Wales, supporting the industry and unleashing their potential. 

I must say that I was disappointed to hear the Minister say that she wasn't able to bring herself to support this Bill, but I do hope that Members across this Chamber, whether virtually on the screen or physically here today, will see the benefits that this Bill can bring and will bring themselves to support this today, because it does deserve more time and more support so that people across Wales can benefit, as I've described here today. Diolch yn fawr iawn.