Around two thirds of the land needed to produce the UK’s food and feed is based abroad and this has grown by 23 per cent since the 1980s, a new study has found.
More than half of the UK’s food and animal food requirements now come from overseas, which means the related environmental impact from the UK’s agricultural needs is absorbed by producer countries.
Consequently, the report said damage done by the UK’s agricultural requirements is being “outsourced” to these areas, including south America, Asia and other EU countries.
The research was conducted by researchers at the University of Aberdeen and published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.
“The UK is currently importing over 50% of its food and feed, whereas 70% and 64% of the associated cropland and greenhouse gas impacts, respectively, are located abroad,” the report said.
“These results imply that the UK is increasingly reliant on external resources and that the environmental impact of its food supply is increasingly displaced overseas.”
On the other hand, although the trend for increasing imports means developing countries must deal with environmental damage, it facilitates economic development through international trade, the study said.
The report concluded that in theory the UK could achieve full self-sufficiency but this would create “drastic shifts in consumption patterns” away from many types of fruit and vegetables, as well as other food products.
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