In the UK, produce trade association the Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC) has said that it believes increased consumption of fresh produce and its sustainable production are vital to meet the challenges of global food security.
As such, the FPC said that the fresh produce industry is well-placed to help the UK government deliver on recommendations set out in the Foresight report 'Global Food and Farming Future', led by professor John Beddington.
FPC was involved in the government's fruit and vegetable task force that, in 2010, identified a strategy to increase consumption and UK production of fresh produce
The new report recognises that both UK production and imports are critical to delivering UK and global food security, and that both can be sustainable, while rejecting food self-sufficiency as a viable option for nations and recognising the need for fair and fully functioning international markets.
'We welcome the report's balanced approach towards the need for imports and the recognition of our responsibility to support developing countries within a global market,' said FPC chief executive Nigel Jenney. 'The fresh produce industry is ready to play a leading role in developing a sustainable food supply which can meet the pressing global challenges of producing more with less.
'We need to see swifter action from Defra and others to drive forward sound policies to deliver a globally sourced sustainable food supply,' he added. 'The UK government needs to deliver its commitment to reduce unnecessary burdens on the industry. We want to see progress in removing the cumulative impact of unnecessary regulation on the economy, and more effective influence with EU policy makers to ensure proportionate governance.'
Around 60 per cent of fruit and vegetables are imported to the UK, mainly from within the EU, providing consumers with produce outside the UK season as well as varieties that cannot be grown in the UK for climatic reasons.
The FPC noted that UK growers had a 'significant opportunity' to increase the sustainable production of indigenous crops which are suited to the country's climate, and called on Defra to identify those crops with greater production potential than is currently achieved, while also providing tools to help maximise this potential.
Government investment in R&D and knowledge transfer would remain crucial, the association noted, while also pointing out that tackling waste reduction across the food chain - as mentioned in the report - was a high priority for the industry.
The group added that professor Beddington's report called for more resource-intensive food types to be contained, outlining that government departments could make a far greater impact to changing people's diets by having a cohesive policy for public sector food procurement which encourages fresh produce consumption regardless of product origin.
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