The nation's largest farming union has urged the Government to not let domestic food production drop below current levels.
If we had only eaten food produced in the UK from January 1, yesterday would have been the day the ‘national larder’ would have run dry, according to Defra data analysed by the NFU.
In response, the farming union has urged the new Labour government to put domestic food production at the forefront of its manifesto pledges around ‘climate resilience, economic growth and the nation’s health’.
Policy ideas suggested include an increased multi-year agriculture budget for the duration of this parliament, a seamless transition to new environmental schemes that are open to all farmers and growers, delivering on a manifesto commitment to introducing a target for half of all food purchased across the public sector to be locally produced or certified to higher environmental standards, and supporting growth in the UK horticulture sector, among others.
Britain is currently 62% self-sufficient in food production, per Defra. This is down from a high of 78% in 1984, but has been holding relatively steady in recent years. However, global and climatic instability has been ‘putting pressure’ on food production all over the world, according to the NFU, making food security a key issue in recent years.
‘Think about the impact of the climate crisis right across the world,’ said NFU president Tom Bradshaw. ‘Blistering temperatures have caused issues with harvests across Europe, while here in the UK many farms spent the first few months of this year under water. At the same time, our farmers continue to face significant reductions in direct farm support payments and unsustainably high production costs due to the war in Ukraine.’
‘All of this chips away at business confidence and farmers’ ability to do what they do best – produce high quality, nutritious food for the nation,’ continues Mr Bradshaw. ‘And with nearly a fifth of UK households reporting experiences of moderate or severe food insecurity in January 2023, we can’t afford to let this trend take hold.’
Mr Bradshaw said he recognised that imported food will always form a proportion of our daily diets, but also that we must ‘recognise the vulnerability of global food supply chains’. Food and drink is also vital to the economy, he pointed out, being the largest manufacturing sector, employing more than four million people and contributing £146 billion to the economy.
In response, a government spokesperson said: ‘This Government recognises that food security is national security. That is why we will restore stability and confidence amongst the sector by introducing a new deal for farmers to boost rural economic growth and strengthen our food security alongside nature’s recovery.’
‘We will protect farmers from being undercut in trade deals, make the supply chain work more fairly and prevent shock rises in bills by switching on GB Energy. In addition, we will optimise our farming schemes to make sure they are delivering for food security and nature recovery.’
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