Celebrities call for doubling of British-grown fruit and veg

TV presenters and influencers have added their voices to calls for the UK to stop relying on imports and fix diets by doubling the land used to grow fruit and vegetables and back British, nature-friendly farming.

In an open letter co-ordinated by the Soil Association, well-known personalities have joined voices from across the farming, food and environmental sectors to call on new Prime Minister Keir Starmer to back and scale up the UK horticulture sector.

The signatories include chefs Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Anna Jones alongside author Dr Chris van Tulleken and farming influencers like Sinead Fenton. They warn that if the current decline in British fruit and veg continues, the UK will “face further disaster” for supermarket shelves, public health, and the environment.

New report backs nature-friendly farming

The call follows a new report from environment charities the Soil Association, Sustain and The Wildlife Trusts that says action must be taken to boost consumption of local and nature-friendly fruit and veg, such as organic. It insists farmers and growers must be given a fair deal and put in the driving seat to deliver sustainable food security and healthy diets.

Campaigners have highlighted the “vulnerability” of UK horticulture, warning that public health will be further at risk if current trends continue and production declines further.

They are raising the alarm over the fact that imports account for most of the fruit and nearly half of the veg consumed in the UK, while less than a third of people eat their 5 a Day.

They are calling for government intervention to back sustainable British farmers and growers and for land used for horticulture in England to double. They note that this would only be a small change to take horticulture from around 2 per cent to 4 per cent of farmland.

The letter to Starmer points out that more land is currently used to play golf than to produce fruit and veg.

The letter says: “Across the country, growers of all scales are working tirelessly to achieve a simple but vital mission: to nourish people with good food. But the sector faces devasting decline. Nearly half of our growers fear for the survival of their businesses and fruit and veg consumption in the UK is at the lowest level in half a century. Less than a third of us eat our 5 a Day.

“What’s more, the produce that does reach us is too often imported from countries that are increasingly impacted by extreme weather. Almost half of our veg and more than 80 per cent of our fruit is imported. This cannot go on. We urgently need more – not less – home-grown fruit and veg, or we face further disaster for supermarket shelves, our health, and the environment.”

The Soil Association is also asking anyone who agrees with the asks of the letter to head to the charity’s website and sign a pledge to say they support homegrown fruit and veg.

 Government ‘must go further’

The report calls for Starmer to go further than the last government and revive plans for a UK horticulture strategy, which were scrapped last year.

It also calls for the UK government to put more money into incentives for nature-friendly fruit and veg production, including organic, alongside tailored support for small-scale growers.

Report co-author and Soil Association senior policy officer Lucia Monje-Jelfs said: “British fruit and veg is in crisis. Our diets are costing the NHS billions every year and the countries we import from are being hit by the impacts of climate change.

“If we scaled up agroecological horticulture like organic, boosting access to healthy and sustainable food across the country, we could help to reverse the public health disaster, slash farming emissions, and restore wildlife. The new government must act to support the country’s growers.”

Agroecological systems that work with nature rather than against it, the charities behind the report say, should be prioritised to create a sector reliant on a healthy and resilient ecosystem instead of pesticides and artificial fertilisers. The groups also call for farmers and growers to be supported through a shift away from farming on peat.

They urge government to invest in farmer-led research to support sustainable and nature-friendly methods of farming on peat, and to explore opportunities for growing crops in wetland conditions, also known as paludiculture.

It will also be necessary to scale up production in other parts of the country including market gardens and field-scale horticulture, particularly in areas that historically were important for fruit and veg like the Vale of Evesham, the report says.

Upping consumption

As well as doubling the land used to grow fruit and veg, the environment charities are also calling for action to boost consumption with government intervention to help create markets for British produce.

They call for an overhaul of public procurement so that schools and hospitals must prioritise homegrown fruit and veg from nature-friendly, agroecological systems.

The asks also include government investment in local food hubs which support short supply chains and create accessible markets for smaller growers, including on the edges of towns and cities. And the report calls for better fairness and flexibility in supply chains for farmers.