It is also interested in how we might relieve any tensions caused by such efforts, says NFU.

Stemming from a commitment in the Natural Environment White Paper, published in June 2011, the project will bring together government, the farming and food industries and environmental and consumer groups. Defra minister Jim Paice will chair the project panel.

It is hoped that members will work in partnership to examine some of the challenging food security-related policy issues that have been difficult to resolve to date, identifying the wins-wins and the difficult trade-offs that need to be considered now and in the future.

Among the questions addressed will be how we can manage competing pressures on land use and on natural resources, how we should embrace new technology and the implications of changing consumer behaviour and the potential to innovate.

The first steps have been the identification of a number of test cases to open the debate, focussing on the dairy industry, wheat and bread production, the production of ‘packaged’ meals and issues affecting certain specific regions, including the Lake District, Norfolk and the South West of England.

The project steering group has committed to publishing conclusions from this work by June 2012.