NFU president Peter Kendall has used his New Year’s message to warn that the UK’s “food gap” is set to widen further unless the government takes action to reverse the trend.
The union leader claimed 2011 will see the new government laying the policy foundations that will be critical to whether the UK’s farmers can rise to the food production challenge of the next twenty years.
He said: “The UK’s own population is set to grow from today’s 62 million to over 70 million by 2030. If home production levels stay the same, we’ll become ever more dependent on imports. As it is, we’re already buying in more than 40 per cent of our food, up from around 25 per cent twenty years ago. With eight million more mouths to feed we’ll be edging towards one in every two meals coming, in effect, from food grown abroad.
“I’m not suggesting we need to take an isolationist approach to food production; we’re a trading nation and trade is also vital to our food security, it ensures variety, and is an opportunity for the industry too. But if we’re going to ensure food supplies for UK consumers it is in our national interest to produce more in the UK.
The issue is set out in DEFRA’s business plan and R&D spending was protected from the worst of the cuts. The new cross-research-council Global Food Security programme has been prioritised in the Department for Business Innovation and Skills’ budget allocations announced in December.
Kendall added: “What worries me is not the government’s commitment to ensuring big picture, global food security, but its commitment to ensuring that local food supply here at home is encouraged and enabled. A narrow localist agenda could pose a serious threat to the growth we need, whether from state-of-the-art polytunnels for soft-fruit production, high-output glasshouses for vegetables…
“Localism needs leadership otherwise it is nothing more than a recipe for Nimbyism. That is why it is absolutely crucial that the government includes food production as a strategic priority in its new national planning framework.”
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