 The next item of business is the debate on motion 4.938, in the name of Marie Gougeon on Good Food Nation's Scotland Bill. Members who wish to participate in the debate should press the request-to-speak buttons now or as soon as possible. I call on Marie Gougeon to speak to and move the motion, cabinet secretary, for around seven minutes please. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I very much welcome this opportunity to open the stage 3 debate on the Good Food Nation Bill. I just want to begin by thanking members from across Parliament for their keen interest in this bill, because it really is clear to me from discussions around the Good Food Nation and from the number of amendments lodged both stages 2 and 3 that there is widespread support and passion for improving the lives of the people of Scotland when it comes to the food that we buy, grow, cook and eat. I also want to take this opportunity to thank the wide variety of food organisations and businesses from across the entire supply chain that have enthusiastically engaged with me on this bill, as well as with the committee. It is with their continued support and efforts that we and Government can really deliver on our Good Food Nation ambitions. I also want to recognise that the delay to this bill due to Covid-19 was a huge disappointment for organisations such as Nourish Scotland, The Soil Association, The Trussell Trust and many more to new menace to name. I hope that today all supporters of this bill will join me in celebrating what is a really significant step on our Good Food Nation journey. Food is central to all of our lives. It sustains and nourishes us both physically and emotionally. Sharing food around the table with family and friends, we see the importance of food in how we socialise. Food production is woven into the very fabric of rural and coastal life here in Scotland. Food is part of our shared culture and heritage, and it is the cornerstone of the Scottish economy, with food and drink being Scotland's top export sector year after year. Given the importance of food in our lives, it is incumbent on us to effect a positive change across the food system. The Good Food Nation bill represents our opportunity to take that world-leading and innovative approach to food policy and to improving outcomes in health, the environment and biodiversity, the economy and many other areas. The Good Food Nation has attracted significant international attention, and it was a privilege to have the UN special rapporteur on the right to food to give evidence on this bill, commenting that the Good Food Nation bill is a timely and exemplary response to deep-rooted challenges seen in every country's food system. The framework bill puts in place the necessary structures that will ensure public policy relating to food is planned for on a long-term basis to help us to secure the sustainability of our food supply chain for future generations. The bill will make ambitions and plans around food central to a host of government activity and decision making. It also creates important links between the national and local levels to enable a more joined-up approach to improving people's lives when it comes to food. It is worth stating, though, that the bill does not mark the beginning of our Good Food Nation journey, because work on many aspects of food policy is already under way right across Scottish Government. As an example of that, Scotland already offers the most generous provision of universal free school lunches in the UK, with pupils in primary 1 to 5 and in special schools already benefiting from the offer of universal free school meals. We will continue to work with our partners and local authorities to plan for the expansion of free school lunch provision over the next academic year. In addition, the Scottish milk and healthy snacks scheme expands and improves upon the UK nursery milk scheme, which it replaced in August last year, promoting better health outcomes for children through a nutritious and varied diet. That Government is ambitious when it comes to the health of the people of Scotland. We are taking wide-ranging action to support healthier choices as set out in our 2018 diet and healthy weight delivery plan. As an example, we intend to introduce a bill in this Parliament that includes powers to restrict promotions of food and drink that is high in fat, sugar or salt, and we are already consulting on out-of-home calorie labelling. That bill underpins that work that we are already doing across Government, and it provides the additional framework for our work on the Good Food Nation. I recognise and welcome the importance that many members here today and organisations and businesses from across Scotland place upon the Good Food Nation. I have met members from all parties across Parliament in recent weeks to take on board their views on the Good Food Nation bill and how we go about creating and sustaining real change in our food system. I have also listened carefully to the considered views of the rain committee in their stage 1 report. That is why I brought forward amendments at stage 2 that set out the Government's high-level principles for the Good Food Nation, while recognising that specific food policy targets, outcomes and initiatives are more appropriate in the Good Food Nation plans that are going to follow. That approach is in line with the committee's own recommendations. During the stage 1 debate, I committed to dealing with the question of an oversight function by the end of the bill process. I took the time to carefully listen to voices from inside Parliament and from organisations across the food system in making a decision about how best to deliver adequate scrutiny of our work on the Good Food Nation. I recognise that, at stage 2, there was strong support from all parties for enhanced scrutiny provisions and from organisations such as the Scottish Food Coalition. After considering all available options, I was pleased to announce last week that I would support the creation of a new Scottish Food Commission as set out in amendments that were lodged by Ariane Burgess. That decision and those amendments are the culmination of close co-operation undertaken as part of commitments set out in the Bute House agreement. I want to thank Ariane Burgess for working with me on the issue and members from across Parliament for meeting with me to share their views on the issue. Those amendments set out the terms upon which a new Scottish Food Commission will be created. They represent a balance between the need for independent scrutiny of our Good Food Nation plans and implementation, while also taking into account the budgetary constraints that we face. They create a Food Commission that is streamlined, efficient and focused on the key tasks that will help us to realise our Good Food Nation ambitions. I look forward to the work that I and my ministerial colleagues will do in setting out our ambitious food policies, our objectives and outcomes in the future national Good Food Nation plan. I also look forward to our continued work with local authorities and health boards in relation to food, because that co-operation will only be enhanced by the bill's provisions. I look forward to the bill enabling the change that we all want to see in our food system and to affecting people's lives in a real and positive way. I firmly believe that the Good Food Nation bill will ensure that we have the framework, the structures and organisations in place to do just that. I move that the Parliament agrees that the Good Food Nation Scotland bill be passed. I can advise the chamber that there is absolutely no time in hand and I will vigorously enforce the time limit for each speaker. I call Rachel Hamilton up to six minutes. I am pleased to speak in today's debate on the Good Food Nation bill. It is a bill that provides an opportunity to address some of the key issues that we face as a nation today. Before I cover this, however, I would like to thank my colleagues on the rain committee for the time and effort that they have put into the bill and for all those who have given evidence and the clerks who supported our work most magnificently throughout this process of bringing the bill to the chamber for debate today. After six years of waiting, but here we are now, thank goodness. I would also like to thank the Scottish Government for meeting with me to discuss some of the amendments that I have proposed and worked towards a shared approach to including some important additions that were made to the bill, such as the inclusive communication amendments and matters to be taken into account in preparing plans. I know that the cabinet secretary will share her disappointment of not being here today, but I am sure that we all send our best wishes and speedy recovery to action. As I said, this bill does represent an opportunity. The amendments that I moved yesterday will and hopefully will help to move Scotland towards becoming a healthier nation that understands food when it comes to where it comes from, how it impacts our bodies, our communities, our environment, and it is an opportunity to address inequalities and overhaul procurement strategies. It is an opportunity to support our fantastic food and farming industry from producers to purveyors and enable them to play a leading role in helping Scotland to become a fantastic good food nation. We know that Scotland, as I said, in evidencing committee at the stage 1 and 2, is not a healthy nation. I keep looking at that screen, expecting Mary Gougeon to be there, but she's not. I've got George Adam. 65 per cent of our adult population—I'm not going to look at you now—is overweight or obese. A figure that will continue to rise without intervention from this Government. Malnourishment has been highlighted as a key issue that the Scottish Government must do more to address. Education around healthy eating was an area favoured by stakeholders during the evidence sessions. While we know, as we always do, that this is not—this bill will not be a silver bullet—that will miraculously and suddenly solve all these issues, there's clear potential within it to start addressing things with earnest. The theme of healthy eating and addressing poor health outcomes that relate to diet shone through in many of the amendments proposed in yesterday's stage 3 debate, and I was quite frankly a bit shocked by the Government opposing a number of the amendments that seek to address this. The bill could have established integrated food policy tackling health, social and environmental impacts of food. It could have obliged the Scottish Government to reform procurement law to ensure public kitchens sourced food from more small local businesses and organic producers. It may have obliged the Government to fund local emergency food and food resilient networks, ensuring that everyone can have access to good food in times of crises. If any of these points sound familiar, it is straight from the Green Party's manifesto. The same Green Party that shamelessly decided to vote against some of the crucial amendments that would have delivered those aims, the philosophical inconsistency and outright duplicity of their voting record yesterday was palpable. Nonetheless, my party will continue to do the right thing and call for these important issues to be addressed. Turning to one of the key points that I mentioned, at the time when our NHS is under such sustained pressure tackling obesity, an issue that has led to higher Covid deaths, prevalence of chronic diseases which sap our NHS resources and lower productivity, every possible opportunity should be a priority for Scotland. We need to throw everything at this, but instead the Government decided with a good food nation bill to kick the can down the line. The wider economic cost of this, according to obesity action Scotland, could be up to 4.6 billion every year. That is almost a third of our NHS Scotland budget. Tackling malnourishment and ensuring children have access to nutritious food was another key issue within this bill and within the amendments rejected by the Government, which sought to address those issues. I was grateful to Opposition Members for their support on this topic and I was very pleased to be working with Labour and Liberal Democrats on this that had similar intentions. I have spoken a lot about the opportunities within this bill and within the bill that it presented, but despite our best efforts this opportunity has been missed. I would like to specifically thank Monica Lennon and Beatrice Wishart for working so collegially on some of these issues. I just want to touch on school breakfasts, because they are an important integral part of this bill that my colleague Brian Whittle and I tabled amendments on. In closing, if the Cabinet Secretary is closing and she can hear me, I would like to ask her why her Government have not laid plans to deliver breakfasts in terms of a timescale for primary and special schools. I would like to know why her party is not delivering on their manifesto pledge to pilot provision for free school breakfasts in secondary schools. It is part of their DNA. It was part of the manifesto and they should be delivering on it and we need to see that as soon as possible. Nonetheless, I would like to finish on a more positive note. The cynic in many of us might have worried that this bill might have ended up with nothing more than a box ticking exercise for the Government. However, as amended, it will amount to something a little bit more than that. We have worked cross-party to pass some very important amendments to the bill. That will allow it to fulfil some of the aims that I have discussed. Although I do not feel that the bill has been perfectly allowed to fulfil its potential, we have to step up our game and deliver changes that we need to see in this country. I am sure that we all agree that George Adam is the very embodiment of a good food nation. I now call Colin Smyth for up to five minutes. We have come a long way from the Government's challenge and the very idea that we need legislation to underpin our ambition to be a good food nation to today, when a good food nation's bill will be voted on into law, I am sure, unanimously. We have come a long way from that bill being more an empty frame than a framework bill at stage 1 to this final bill that has improved during the parliamentary process. There have been positive changes to the bill strengthening parliamentary scrutiny and consultation and the inclusion in the final bill of plans long supported by Labour for an independent food commission, thanks to the tenacious campaign from the members of the Scottish Food Coalition forcing that U-turn from the SNP in Greens are a positive step forward. However, the failure to set up proposals for that commission until the very last day for stage 3 amendments last week, four years after the Government began consulting on the bill, meant that there was little opportunity to properly scrutinise the detail, including that limit on the number of commissioners to as few as three. In the final bill, there are many exclusions. For example, the bill fails to include any meaningful, miserable objectives. Yesterday, Arianna Burgess said that it should not have targets because it is a framework bill. So, too, was the climate change act. It is a good job that the Greens were not in government when that was passed or we never had a target from net zero by 2045 in that bill. To coin a phrase, that is what happens when the Greens are in government is the reason why small but nonetheless important amendments such as the inclusion of integrated joint boards as relevant authorities were voted down when the Greens would not have thought twice about voting for them in opposition. It is why an amendment from the Opposition to consult those with lived experience of food related issues when preparing good food nation plans such as trade unions representing food workers and charities tackling obesity was voted down because apparently it singled out groups yet an amendment from the government given big private food firms preferential treatment when consulting on the implementation of those plans was passed by the government. It is why we have had to settle for the weak commitment to merely having regard for the principle of the right to food. The bill could and it should have unequivocally enshrined into Scots law the right to food and delivering that right should be driving everything about government food policy. That common purpose, that clear vision would have set the direction of travel for building the fairer, healthier, more sustainable food system that Scotland desperately needs. It remains to all her shame that in a country with so much fine food and drink, so many children will still go to bed hungry tonight and so many families will continue to rely on food banks. Presiding Officer, I don't just want to have regard for food poverty, I want to see it eliminated. In a country that leads the world in fine food and drink products and businesses, it is a disgrace that so many people are still employed in jobs in the sector which are insecure and poorly paid. I don't just want to have regard for fair work standards. I want to end the scandal that many of those making and serving our food have themselves to choose between eating and eating. In a country with plenty of land, plenty of sea and so many talented producers but where too many of our farmers and fishers cannot make a decent living, I don't just want to have regard for the climate in nature, emergency and animal welfare, I want to see those issues at the very heart of our food policy and a new agricultural support system that delivers sustainable fishing in farming. Presiding Officer, our current food policies are not working for Scotland. This bill takes a step but not the giant leap. We need to help deliver that better, fairer way to feed ourselves that doesn't damage our people and damage our environment. However, the progress that we have made in delivering a good food nations bill is a step forward and it is due in no small part to the members of the Scottish Food Commission who have led the debate on how we can transform Scotland's food system to end food security and ensure that everyone has access to healthy, sustainable, produced food. Presiding Officer, far too long, far too many people in Scotland have lacked adequate access to food, exposing the gross inequalities that we face today. I genuinely hope that the bill kick-starts a debate and a development of good food nations plans that ensure Scotland's food policy delivers environmental sustainability, healthy eating, better animal welfare and fair work standards for our food and drink workers. Ultimately, I hope that it begins the process of rethinking how we approach access to food in this country, recognising that access to food is a fundamental right that every single Scott should enjoy. I am pleased to be speaking today at stage 3 of the Good Food Nations Scotland Bill. Scottish Liberal Democrats have supported the creation of a good food nation bill for some time now, including it in our manifesto. I am pleased that the bill has now reached stage 3. As deputy convener of the rain committee, I add my thanks to the Clarkson bill team for their work and to my committee colleagues and convener Finlay Carson. I thank all witnesses who gave evidence and organisations that provided briefings and to Professor Mary Brennan for visiting Shetland on behalf of the Scottish Food Coalition. I also thank the cabinet secretary for meeting with me to discuss various issues. With the bill, Scotland has an opportunity to reform our food system and lead the way in sustainable food, food security and local food production. The good food nation plans must address food-related issues such as tackling food insecurity and poor health by increasing access to healthy food and harnessing the potential of local food production through short supply chains and a focus on sustainable and environmentally friendly food. To achieve those aims, there will need to be sharing of good practice across different aspects of the food system and good linkages between local areas for regional supply chains. I am pleased that the Scottish Government listened to calls from stakeholders and MSPs, including myself, to establish an independent Scottish Food Commission. This new body must harness good practice and provide overall structure for the food policy arena, which has been described by witnesses as fragmented. The new commission will be dedicated to overseeing the implementation of the bill and it must co-ordinate activities of relevant authorities, foster good practice and monitor activities, using dedicated resources and taking a cross-cutting approach, drawing on expertise from across the food sector. The right to food is the right of everyone to have physical and economic access at all times to sufficient, adequate and culturally acceptable food that is produced and consumed sustainably. Fulfilling that right is key to addressing food-related issues in Scotland and I am therefore disappointed that the Scottish Government rejected cross-party calls to set out fulfilling the right to food as the explicit purpose of the bill. Becoming a good food nation must involve deliberate steps to ensure that everyone in Scotland can realise the right to food. In the implementation, I hope that the commission, Scottish ministers and relevant authorities will have the right to food at the forefront of their vision. I understand that the Scottish Government intends to bring forward human rights legislation that will include incorporation of the right to food and I trust that it will ensure coherence and linkages between it and the bill. Had the amendment in my name been passed, it would have required local authorities to allow for flexibility in meal provision with particular relevance to school hostel residents. In island communities such as Shetland, young people whose homes are beyond commuting distance live in a school hostel during the school week. It is their home from home. While ensuring food provided as healthy and nutritious, it is important that people can make choices about their meals as enjoyment of food and social aspects of meals are also significant, especially for young people who are away from home. I hope that relevant authorities will bear this in mind when they make their good food nation plans. Today's young people will, after all, be the first generation of Scots to benefit long-term from a good food nation. The good food nation bill must not be seen in isolation. The bill is laying the foundations for future relevant legislation on agriculture, the environment, public health, the circular economy and human rights. The Scottish Parliament will have to continue to have a crucial role regarding the bill and I look forward to scrutinising the future good food nation bills as the implementation of the bill gets under way. Today I and the Scottish Liberal Democrats will support the good food nation bill. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Thank you, Ms Whittle. We now move to the open debate. I call Jenny Minter to be followed by Brian Whittle up to four minutes, Ms Minter. Thank you, Presiding Officer. It is a privilege to speak in the stage 3 debate on our good food nation bill. I too would like to thank the work of my fellow committee colleagues and clerks and witnesses and I'd also like to wish the cabinet secretary a speedy recovery. I want to focus in my contribution on the difference that this bill, the positive difference that this bill will make to Scotland. Last week I was proud to join the pupils, teachers, staff and their partners at Dunoon Grammar School, where it was announced that the school had been shortlisted for the Community Collaboration Award and the world's best schools prize. During Covid, Dunoon Grammar School, like others across Argyllin butte and Scotland, recognised that being at the heart of their community meant that they could pivot their resources to ensure an appropriate community food response, which was wider than free school meals. They embraced the community food process, worked with the local supply chain and local producers. The school illustrated what can be done by getting out there and doing it, working sustainably, making whole families healthier and bringing communities closer. As the world's best schools website says, creating a ripple of change that spreads from schools to society, making both stronger. That is exactly what our good food nation bill will do by providing an overarching framework for a clear, consistent and coherent future Scottish food policy, a fresh approach that seeks to embed food within the wider landscape of public policy. In the stage 1 debate in this chamber, I talked about how one of my own staff recalled the lunches he and friends enjoyed under Dunoon Grammar School provided food that was both nutritious and delicious. He also reflected on how these meals were especially important to youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds. The same goes, you are what you eat, but increasingly for many families you are only what you can afford to eat. This bill will go some way to offset Westminster's cruel attack on families and in particular children. During stage 2, amendments were agreed, including the addition of a new set of principles which Scottish ministers and relevant authorities must have regard in preparing national food plans. Those principles acknowledge the systematic nature of the food system and supply chain, the role of sustainable food production in mitigating climate change, reversing biodiversity loss and improving animal welfare, the importance of adequate and appropriate food for physical and mental wellbeing, adequate food as a human right and the importance of the food business sector in Scotland, all improving the bill. It is fair to say that the area where there has been most debate was on oversight of the bill. I am very pleased that, following careful consideration and discussions with members across the chamber and organisations outwith, including the Scottish Food Coalition, the Cabinet Secretary has decided that a statutory food commission will be established and that strengthens further our good food nation bill. On Monday, I met Jane Jones from Argyll and Bute Council, who provided the committee with compelling evidence in support of the bill. Jane is passionate about food and making sure that Argyll and Bute gets its food strategy right. From the local butcher on Isle providing meat for the island schools, which Mary Brennan visited, to producing with Assist FM the first ever Scottish School Meals recipe book—I am just about finished, thank you. She believes that the bill will ensure that appropriate food plans can be developed for Argyll and Bute and throughout Scotland that recognise the local needs from early years' learning through to care homes and the strengths of local supply chains and local producers and that the establishment of the Scottish Food Commission will pull everyone involved in food in Scotland together, provide the strategic oversight and ensure that all partners are engaging across Scotland. The expression of and ready has justifiably fallen out of favour. Thanks to Brexit, we know that of and ready really means half-baked. However, I believe that Scotland's good food nation bill is fully baked, nutritious and wholesome, and I urge you to support it today. I am delighted that we have now reached stage 3 of this bill, and given how long it is taking to get here, I was becoming concerned that I might succumb to old age for over I had a chance to speak on it. I want to say that I wrote in my athlete's training programme this week that, if you do not eat according to your goals, do not expect to reach them. I think that that, to me, is true of any aspect of life and the importance of achievement. It is not just about sport, so I think that reducing food inequality should be the absolute priority of this Parliament. A few bills in Hollywood can so appropriately be described as better than ever. It was first promised by the SNP in 2016 manifesto, then again in the 2021 manifesto with five years in between of promising it and never quite delivering it. Now that it has arrived, and I have welcomed the opportunity to speak on it today, members will know that one of my greatest bugbears is how poorly Scotland does when it comes to getting our superb local produce into our schools and hospital. We all know, not least because I have said it often enough in this chamber, that a healthy balanced diet brings very real benefits for physical and mental health. That is no more important than in schools where we can encourage the next generation to eat more healthily and live longer because of it and hospitals where a good diet can aid recovery. However, what an opportunity missed. I welcome not least the recognition that we must do better when it comes to encouraging local food procurement, but at the same time it falls woefully short of what it could have and should have been. Members will see that I put forward various amendments to the bill with the aim of having a stronger, better-defined targets, amendments that are supported by the Scottish NFU and the farming communities. Targets on increasing local procurement, including free school meals, reducing food waste, increasing local food processing and reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. We are looking to impact the health of the nation, improve educational standards, reduce the attainment gap and tackle climate change, all of which the bill could have gone a long way to address. However, that would have required a plan with substance, a plan with definite route map to success. Presiding Officer, the Scottish Government has always been good at offering world-leading headline-grabbing targets without any reasonable plan to hit them. By this time, they have even dropped the idea of targets. Instead, we have woolly words and promises of doing better tomorrow of asking councils to develop plans with no way of measuring success or otherwise. Most disappointing, as it has already been alluded to, is the Greens' response. Their abandonment of their own principles seems to me that they are also comfortable in opposition smugly lecturing the chamber on their green credentials only to quietly capitulate to whatever the SNP decided is best. It is left to the opposition to bring forward progressive green policy ideas, ideas that are bold and measurable. The truth is that the Greens are green in name only. Indicating plans is a positive step forward, but the plan is not as good as its implementation. After all, the Scottish Government has made plans for new CalMac ferries, green jobs and eliminating student debt, giving every child a bike and electronic device, closing the attainment gap and many, many plans of economic growth all have failed. It is disappointing that the Scottish Government has opted not to accept my proposed amendments, which would have strengthened the bill and ensured that, when good food nation plans are produced, they are not just another exercise in woolly language. The Scottish Conservatives will support the passage of the bill today, not because we believe that it is the best that could have been, but because a small step in the right direction is better than no step at all. I also want to thank all those who have been campaigning for years to get us to this stage, in particular my colleagues Elaine Smith and Rhoda Grant. I also want to thank those in the Scottish Food Coalition who have been working hard to persuade the Government to be more radical. Today is a result, because we do not just have a bill, but we also have the commission, something that, as Colin Smith has argued, is critical to ensure the implementation of the bill and a joined-up approach to deliver in communities across Scotland. I very much welcome the last minute U-turns that we have had from the SNP Government, something that we have got used in the last Parliament, for example on tied pubs and period products, where we certainly led the way from Scottish Labour in arguing for ambitious legislation being knocked back with the Government withholding support only to cave in at the end of months of discussion. However, like other MSPs who spoke in today and yesterday, I think that the bill could have gone further. As Rhoda Grant said yesterday, this bill should have included a clear purpose of enshrining the right to food in law. We need to make the best use of the powers of this Parliament. I want to focus on what is next. We need a joined-up approach and stronger political leadership to focus on ending the poverty that leads to so many families having to rely on food banks. It is about access to affordable, nourishing food, but also to decent incomes. There is much more that now needs to be done, for example in relation to ensuring that school students get the free school meals that they need without the stigma. As Monica Lennon said yesterday, this is something that the STUC supports for good reason. I was keen to say to Jenny Mintle that it was great to hear about during grammar and their achievements. However, does Sarah Boyack agree that we need to do everything possible in immediate days and weeks ahead to ensure that children and during grammar and elsewhere have access to free school meals without stigma and shame? The critical issue is going to be the funding that follows. That is something that the SNP Green Government needs to get sorted. There are also some really good points made by WWF about supporting farmers and food producers to speed up the delivery of food that delivers for our climate, for nature and for people. Colin Smith's points about fair work are hugely important. I also want to just, as I come to the halfway through my speech more than that, focus on the issue about, in our communities, the impact of community gardens and how that can transform people's lives. In Edinburgh, we have seen some fantastic work delivered by projects, edible estates, the Bridgend community garden, croft and pots and leaf links, and the Back Greens initiative is something that I think we could learn across Scotland from. The space between tenements in Gorgay, Durai, Marchant and Leaf has been brought to life by local residents and made their gardens attractive and productive again, but it needs political leadership to deliver those benefits, work with local councils, sharing best practice and thinking about how we manage our parks and brownfield land. With the right funding and support, community gardens can help to address food insecurity among low-income urban communities. They will not solve the cost of living crisis, but they need to be on the agenda of the commissioners that are going to be appointed. They give psych, physical, social and ecological benefits to volunteers and where they live. We also need to think about how we spread that knowledge in our schools to the next generation of young people. As we pass the bill today, we need to see the food commissioners appointed swiftly so that we can make the progress needed, with a more inclusive, accessible approach so that everybody is able to get informed to help to deliver the legislation. We need to see cross-sectoral support so that everyone gets access to affordable, nutritious food, regardless of their income, while we address our climate and nature crisis and to end the need for food banks. Everybody has the right dignity to be able to afford the food that they need to sustain themselves and have a healthy life. That is what this legislation has got to deliver. Thank you very much, Ms White. I call Ari-Anne Burgess to be followed by co-caps here again up to four minutes. Many civil society organisations have worked hard for years to help to assemble the ingredients for this bill, and I would especially like to acknowledge all the member organisations of the Scottish Food Coalition who kept the issue of good food on the table. I would also like to thank my colleagues and clerks on the Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee, which led Parliamentary scrutiny of the bill. In that process, I put the bill under the grill, and today, after months of constructive engagement with the Government under the Bute House agreement, I am proud of what we are serving up. Scotland has so much good food to bring to the table, yet it is clear that most of our country is not well served by the food system. The motivation that is baked into the global food system to produce the most calories for the least cost is profoundly damaging to people's health, to nature and animals and to our climate. It also drives injustice. Many of our farmers, food producers and supply chain workers can't afford to buy the food that they produce, and many people are struggling to put food on the table whilst big retail corporations make comfortable profits. The bill is an opportunity to forge a different path to change Scotland's food system for the better, so everyone has access to high-quality, nutritious and sustainable food that is good for people, for animals and for the environment. That is why I supported calls to add principles to the bill. I am proud of the contributions that I made to those principles, including through my amendment, which would make clear the importance of sustainability across the system from food production to consumption and throughout the supply chain. That is why I also contributed to the list of high-level outcomes that ministers and relevant authorities must have regard to when producing the good food nation plans. My stage 2 amendment that added a focus on climate change and wildlife will help focus on how the food system can help to achieve net zero and meet future biodiversity targets. However, even with those improvements, it still felt like a crucial ingredient was missing. How would public bodies be supported to develop the right policies? How could we ensure that the plan development process is inclusive? How would we measure and support progress? I was convinced by the arguments from numerous stakeholders, including the Scottish Food Coalition, that an independent body is required to perform those roles. I need to make progress. I perceived in making this case and I am delighted that the Greens and the Scottish Government have agreed that an independent food commission with broad expertise and understanding of all aspects of the food system will be the best way to provide effective oversight and help drive fundamental change. As set out in my amendment, the food commission will be streamlined and efficient. It will deliver significant benefits across portfolio areas. Instead of contributing to existing problems, our food system can contribute to solutions, helping to improve health and wellbeing, strengthen national food security and local economies, provide good jobs, reach net zero and ensure that everyone can enjoy the world-class food produced by our good food nation. However, the work does not stop here. It will be crucial to ensure that the food commission benefits from the right people with the right expertise, that it supports an inclusive and effective process of plan and policy development, so that we all have a seat at the table. That will be an opportunity to get people excited about food, empower local communities and demonstrate real leadership. I look forward to seeing the fruits of our efforts as the journey continues to make Scotland everyone's good food nation. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in support of what I believe is one of the most important pieces of legislation that we will pass during this parliamentary session. As the World Wildlife Fund Scotland points out, the way that we currently produce and consume food represents one of the biggest drivers of both the climate and nature emergencies that we face across the globe. In terms of health and wellbeing, the legislation will be an important foundation to support and advance existing Scottish Government commitments, including the extension of free school meals and the having of childhood obesity from its current rate of 29 per cent by 2030. Obesity Scotland advised that healthy food can cost up to three times as much in deprived areas. The poorest fifth of households needs to spend 40 per cent of their disposable income to eat healthily, as opposed to just 7 per cent of the richest fifth. Making good food affordable and accessible will be a primary objective of the good food nation plans that the Scottish Government and other authorities will be obliged to produce. I would like to note my sympathy for Monica Lennon's amendments relating to the extension of free school meal provision and the incorporation of the UNCR article 24 stating young people's rights to high-quality nutritious food. The Scottish Government will extend free school meal provision from all P1 and P5 children to all children in primary and special schools during the course of this Parliament. That is a significant commitment, with funding identified to deliver it, and further extension would require funding to be identified from a fixed budget. However, it is an ambition worthy of serious consideration should our future circumstances as a nation change. The Scottish Government has made clear that its commitment to incorporating the UNCRC to all Scotland's laws within the limits of devolution. In the meantime, it is significantly increasing funding for child poverty, children's rights related action, and I look forward to an update on that work at the earliest opportunity. Just as the food we eat is fundamental to our health and wellbeing, this bill has the potential to underpin a range of policies from healthy eating, equality of access to good food, to meaningful improvements in school meals and hospital catering, from supporting local food producers food production to taking responsibility for how our food system impacts the environment, and those outcomes are urgently required. That is why organisations including the Trussell Trust, Glasgow Food Network, Nourish Scotland and the Soil Association, the RSPB and many others have campaigned so hard and effectively for this legislation. I welcome the cabinet secretary's commitment to accept the amendment from Ariana Burgess, requiring the establishment of a Scottish Food Commission to oversee preparation and implementation of the plan. As Evie Murray, founder and CEO of Leith-based charity, Earth in Common, and long-term member of the Scottish Food Coalition, points out, it is very significant that the Scottish Government has recognised the importance of an independent food commission to oversee the implementation of the good food nation bill. Without it, the bill would have been toothless, not a good thing when it comes to food. Evie goes on with such a commission that Scotland is setting an example to the rest of the world. I believe that this cross-cutting commission backing legislation will produce multiple benefits for the people of Scotland and that other countries will follow suit. You need to finish now, Ms Stewart. I now call... We move to the wind-up speeches and I call Rhoda Grant up to four minutes. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I'm relieved that we now have a bill in front of us that is much improved from the one that we were presented with. As Colin Smyth said, the major improvement is putting in place a food commission that will oversee the drawing up of good food plans, and there also be independent from government allowing them to focus their minds on how we implement our human right to food. Those amendments were brought forward by Arianne Burgess, who bizarrely voted against similar amendments at stage 2. Having voted against them previously, I can only, like Sarah Boyack, thank her for having the conscience to change her mind and change her stance. However, the credit for the commission being established lies elsewhere. Firstly, with Elaine Smyth, I would like to pay tribute to her work to campaign to have a commission set up, and she looked to take forward legislation that the Government refused to do in the last Parliament. I'm sure she'll be delighted that her hard work has paid off. Credit also goes to all the others who fought for this. The Scottish Food Coalition, the co-op party, the Trussell Trust and many other organisations and individuals, too many to mention. Many of them are working to bring food to those who cannot afford it for themselves. I want to thank them for their help and advice during the consultation for my own proposed bill. The Cabinet Secretary paid credit to them, too, and included the UN rapporteur, but ignored their pleas to enshrine the right to food in this bill, where it rightly belongs. It's a major omission from this bill and something that, even at this stage in the process, Arianne Burgess failed to mention in her speech. Again, we see the Greens abandon their principles, a theme that runs through this whole process. Frankly, without the right to food enshrined in this bill, it is half baked. Colin Smyth talked about the fact that the bill could have set targets to eliminate food poverty and it hasn't. Rachel Hamilton, Beatrice Wishart and Brian Whittle also expanded on this point and talked about where those targets could have been set. Beatrice Wishart spoke clearly and passionately about the right to food and her hopes that the commission would deliver where the Government has not. Sarah Boyack talked about how the bill could have gone much further to deal with food poverty, echoed by Monica Lennon in her intervention. A lot falls at the door of the commission when it is set up to deal with the things that the Government has omitted to do during the passing of the bill. The bill should bring us a step closer to ending hunger in Scotland, but it really needs the Government to act. Its unambitious bill doesn't fill me with confidence that it will, but I live in hope. It needs to understand that failure to do this costs us all. It costs in health inequalities where life expectancy in Scotland depends on your postcode and can vary by 20 years, where children who are our future are failed due to hunger. I dream of a world that is better than this, one that is free of the need of food banks, where no one faces the inability to feed themselves and their family. The Scottish Government can realise that dream if it really wishes to. I am pleased to contribute to today's stage 3 debate on the Good Food Nations Scotland Bill. As convener of the committee which considered the bill, I want to put on record my thanks to the hard work of the committee clerks and committee members and to the hundreds of stakeholders who waited patiently and not so patiently for this much-anticipated bill. Many stakeholders expressed frustration at the level of ambition articulated in the bill. As Professor Mary Brennan from the Scottish Food Coalition highlighted in our oral evidence to the committee, I quote, "...our food system offers huge potential to be unlocked. The governance of the system must be organised to deflect not only the gravity of the challenges but the scale of the positive outcomes that we can achieve." From the outset, the committee questioned the framework nature of the bill and was disappointed that the draft bill provided little detail relating to either the purpose and the direction of the travel for Scotland's food systems or a coherent cross-governmental framework of food-related policies in legislation. Indeed, the committee was unequifical that the national good food plans should articulate and reflect those wider ambitions when laid before Parliament. At stage 1, the committee concluded that effective oversight of the good food nation policy and accountability for the statutory good food nation plans would be essential to achieving the good food nation's ambitions. It recommended that the bill be amended at stage 2 to strengthen the oversight function given the Parliament a greater role in relation to the good food nation plans and to require parliamentary approval after the good food nation plan had been laid. The Scottish Government confirmed that any oversight role identified would be dealt with in the context of the bill. However, the formal response to our stage 1 report included no further information other than to say that the Scottish Government was carefully considering the points made by the committee. I should remind the chamber that the Scottish Government's response to our stage 1 report was not received until weeks after the stage 1 debate and weeks after this Parliament had to decide whether to agree to the general principles of the bill, and that is simply not acceptable. At stage 2, the committee welcomed amendments for the regulation of powers under section 4 of the bill being subject to the affirmative procedure, providing additional parliamentary oversight, and a number of members proposed amendments to the bill that would see the introduction of a new Scottish Food Commission. At that time, at stage 1, the cabinet secretary said that she was not in a position to support to the amendments, but the intention was that the oversight would be addressed conclusively by the end of the bill process. There was, after all, time for any proposals to come to the committee before stage 2. At that time, I expressed my disappointment at the way in which the process had been handled. The Scottish Government ample time when drafting the legislation to consider the inclusion of a food commission but opted not to do so. If the inclusion of a food commission was integral to the governance of the good food nation plan, why not include the commission on the face of the bill so that the committee and stakeholders could properly scrutinise the proposals? That sets a warranted precedent whereby we are presented with framework legislation that contains limited detail using plans defined in secondary legislation to drive policy development. We then had a major addition to the bill and announced only days before the stage 3 debate, providing limited scope for scrutiny. The cabinet secretary wrote to the committee confirming her intention to support a food commission, but the letter included no information to assist the parliamentary scrutiny of those legislative proposals. The Rain Committee believed that an oversight function was essential to the effectiveness of the good food nation plans, but it was vital that the Parliament had the information and time to consider the proposals. However, it was only after asking for further information and only hours before stage 3 that the cabinet secretary confirmed that the new food commission would be a NDPB with an anticipated running cost of less than £1 million a year. Although I was grateful for the response, I maintained that it would have been helpful if the committee was able to properly scrutinise proposals for the food commission when considering the bill at stage 1 and 2. Stakeholders had minimal input in the scrutiny of the amendments passed yesterday, and I would recommend that the Scottish Government give due consideration on how proposals for a new commission can be developed collaboratively. Secondary legislation to make the more detailed provision relating to the commission will be subject to the affirmative parliamentary procedure, and the committee will, I am sure, want to scrutinise that in detail. Ultimately, we all want to see Scotland become a good food nation. We all want to see the legislation work in support of that aim. I want to assure stakeholders, particularly those who have expressed concerns about a lack of oversight, that the committee will continue to monitor the progress of the plans and the new food commission to ensure that we develop a food system that is both resilient and supports the most in need. I thank all the members for the contributions to this debate, as well as to thank them for their well wishes today and yesterday, because I can assure you that no one is more disappointed than me that I am not in chamber for the final stages of this piece of legislation, and undertaking a stage 3 with Covid is definitely an experience that I would not recommend. However, I think that the passion that members feel about this bill is absolutely clear from the contributions today on a huge range of food related topics, and I am also grateful for the way that so many organisations from across Scottish society have placed on the good food nation bill. I know that this bill has taken time to finalise each of us today having been disrupted by the pandemic, but we can now reach an important milestone on our good food nation journey. The bill will enable everyone who is affected by food policy decisions to hold government to account. It is going to create new and innovative national and local food plans that will fulfil ambitions on a long-term basis for the betterment of everyone in Scotland, our health, our environment and our wonderful food and drink industry. That is important because of the global challenges that we face from climate change as well as supply chain disruption that we have seen through Brexit, the pandemic and now war in Ukraine. We must affect the changes that are needed to address those challenges, both on a national scale when it comes to our food system and in our food culture, in how we think about food and in the food that we choose to eat. That will only be achieved through long-term planning that effectively links government with public bodies at the local level. It is a bill that will give us the tools to do that. There have been a lot of points raised in the debate today that I really want to try and touch on and hopefully I will manage to cover them all. I would probably start with universal school meals. I know that there has been much discussion today about the provision of universal free school meals. I just want to stress again that the Scottish Government takes the issue of school meals seriously. We are already committed to funding the expansion of free school lunches to all children and primary and special schools during the course of this Parliament. As things stand, all children and primaries 1-5 are offered universal free school lunches during school term time. I would ask Parliament to reject amendments that were put forward by Monica Lennon yesterday on the issue, because those amendments would have created unclear legal effects on public bodies such as health boards and local authorities. Again, I want to be absolutely clear that this Government is committed to the expansion of free school meals, but the right way to expand universal free school meal provision is by working with our partners and local authorities to plan for that expansion. We will continue to do that. I know that Rachel Hamilton had posed a couple of questions to me. In response to that, I would say that, in the next year, we are going to develop plans to deliver free breakfast to children and primary and special schools and start to pilot provision. We know that delivering free breakfast provision in primary and special school settings will improve the quality of access to nutritious food for children. In order to effectively deliver an expanded breakfast offer, we need to better understand the extent of current breakfast provision across local authorities. Our priority this year is to map that existing provision and plan what delivery of a future breakfast offer should look like to best meet the needs of children and families in Scotland. It is also the sort of work that is going to be an important part of our Good Food Nation plan, because, as I said yesterday, it is in the plans that this detail is the best place to be. In relation to the right to food, that was raised by Colin Smyth and others through the debate today. I do think that, like some of his other comments, the position on this has been mischaracterised, because this Government is committed to the right to food and enshrining it into law. There is no question about that. However, as I have said before, there are complex interdependencies between a whole host of human rights, which is why we cannot take a fragmented approach to their incorporation. That is why we will bring forward a human rights bill during this session of Parliament. However, it is also important to remember that, although, of course, that incorporation is important, I strongly believe that it is through the kind of initiatives that we intend for the Good Food Nation plans that we will make access to healthy, local and nutritious food, a reality for everyone and really give effect to that right. I also just want to touch briefly here on the use of language, though, used in the debate today, as well as in the bill itself, because Colin Smyth made much of the bill having regard to various provisions and really downplaying that phrase. I think that it is just important to remember that we use that language and this legal text for the reason. Cabinet Secretary, if I could just ask you to pause. Sorry, I am aware of several conversations on going in the chamber at the moment. I would be grateful if members could ensure that we can all hear the Cabinet Secretary. I was just touching on the language there and about why it is important. The language that we have used is important because it has legal effect. That legal effect means that the Scottish Government can be held to account and, in fact, has been in the past because of the use of this particular language. It is really important to highlight that. I also want to touch on the Food Commission around which there has been a lot of discussion today. I thank my colleagues in the Green Party for working with me to ensure that we can arrive to a position that allows for real scrutiny of the Government's work on the good food nation while respecting the budgetary constraints that we are operating within. I have listened to a whole range of viewpoints on scrutiny in the context of the bill. I have met members from all parties and Parliament in recent weeks to discuss their views. Having considered all the options, the views of stakeholders and the support for a commission from all opposition parties at stage 2, I decided to support the creation of a new food commission. I believe that the independent and expert advice provided by the new food commission will be valuable for relevant authorities in the creation of their own plans. I also just want to touch briefly on one last point in relation to targets. I know that that has been a subject of much of the debate today. From all the points that have been raised from all the members across the parties, we are not far apart on all the aims that we ultimately want to achieve, whether that is in health, education and tackling poverty. I can completely understand the motivation of those who have sought their inclusion on the face of the bill. That question was discussed at length during the committee's evidence sessions. Many stakeholders gave a whole range of examples of targets that they would like to see in the bill. I want to stress that each of those targets is important in its own right, but we firmly believe that the best place for those targets is in the plans, because that then follows widespread and inclusive consultation with all stakeholders. I know that that was also the way it would retain its people on the board. If I could ask the cabinet secretary to conclude, please. I am just trying to close, Presiding Officer, and in doing so, I would again just make the point that, of course, food is important. It is central to the lives of everyone in Scotland, and we have the unique opportunity today to take an important step on our good food nation journey that will help us to address the many challenges that we face today in relation to our food security, supply chain resilience, our health and climate change, and the bill that we have in front of us now is one that Scotland can be proud of, because we are taking a novel approach to food policy development, and we are doing so in the international spotlight. I believe that we will lead the way in creating joined-up and real long-term changes in our food system, our supply chain and our food culture. That concludes the debate on Good Food Nation Scotland Bill, and it is now time to move on to the next item of business, which is consideration of business motion 4997, in the name of George Adam on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, setting out a business programme, and I call on George Adam to move the motion. No member is asked to speak on the motion, and the question is that motion 4997 be agreed. Are we all agreed? The motion is therefore agreed. The next item of business is consideration of business motion 4998, in the name of George Adam on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau on committee meeting times. Any member who wishes to speak against the motion should press their request to speak button now, and I call on George Adam to move the motion. Thank you minister. No member is asked to speak against the motion, therefore the question is that motion 4998 be agreed. Are we all agreed? The motion is therefore agreed. The next item of business is consideration of five Parliamentary Bureau motions, and I ask George Adam on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau to move motions 4999 to 5002 on approval of SSIs, and 5003 on designation of a lead committee. Thank you minister. The question on these motions will be put at decision time, and there are two questions to be put as a result of today's business. The first is that motion 4938, in the name of Mary Gougeon on Good Food Nation Scotland Bill, be agreed, and there will be a short suspension to allow members to access the digital voting system.