Perhaps the least surprising news of the year came this week with the announcement the UK is back in recession, and it would be easy to be downbeat. A look outside at the weather doesn’t help the general mood either.
It’s good to see, therefore, that Thanet Earth - which has managed to get its entire project off the ground against a backdrop of global financial turmoil - is pressing ahead and building a fourth major glasshouse (p4).
Investment of this kind is crucial for the future of the industry, and there is a real hunger from supermarkets and caterers to buy up more home-grown food.
It’s also a reflection of the need for added food security, and to that end there are further encouraging signs with the various grape and peach trials taking place in Kent (see p8).
I was asked by a BBC Radio 4 presenter last week whether I thought locals would be happy to look out of their window onto fields of polytunnels or glasshouses. I replied that times had changed and growers needed the tools to do their jobs, especially if we wanted more UK produce on shelves.
Obstructing growers from using these fundamental technologies is a bit like asking a tennis player to turn up to Wimbledon with a spoon for a raquet. If the public wants the best of British, it needs to support the industry.
No comments yet