Government urged to put food production centre stage

The call came from the National Farmers’ Union which said investing in agriculture was key at a time of global and climatic instability.

NFU President Tom Bradshaw said: “Food from other countries will always form a proportion of our daily diets, but we must recognise the vulnerability of global food supply chains and the importance of a stable food supply here at home to our nation’s health, as well as its vital contribution to our economy.

"Farmers produce the raw ingredients that underpin our food and drink sector, the largest manufacturing sector in the UK, worth £146 billion and employing more than four million people.

“That is why investment in Britain’s farming sector is so important, so where we can increase self-sufficiency in homegrown foods, we do.”

Mr Bradshaw said the climate crisis was playing havoc with harvests and food production across the world, with Europe facing blistering temperatures while many British farms spent months under water earlier this year.

At the same time, farmers continued to face significant reductions in direct farm support payments and unsustainably high production costs due to the war in Ukraine, he warned.

“All of this chips away at business confidence and farmers’ ability to do what they do best – produce high quality, nutritious food for the nation,” said the NFU chief.

"And with nearly a fifth of UK households reporting experiences of moderate or severe food insecurity in January 2023, we can’t afford to let this trend take hold.

“That’s why we welcome the Government’s recognition that food security is critical to national security. If we are to maintain, and where possible grow, our self-sufficiency in the face of global instability, food producing businesses need the right policy framework and investment to boost confidence and resilience so we can withstand climate and economic shocks.

“Central to this is an increased multi-year agriculture budget and a statutory commitment to ensure the UK’s self-sufficiency does not drop below its current level..

Mr Bradshaw was speaking on ‘Self-sufficiency Day’ – the point in the year when if we only ate food produced in the UK from January 1 the national larder would run empty.

The Government has acknowledged that increasing the nation’s self-sufficiency levels to help bolster food security is of critical importance to our national infrastructure.

According to 2023 Defra figures, the UK is 62 per cent self-sufficient in food. While this reflects similar levels of the past decade, some sectors have seen a recent decline – with self-sufficiency in fresh vegetables, key in supporting the health of our nation, at its lowest since records began in 1988 at 53 per cent.

This year, farmers and growers have also experienced one of the wettest winters and springs on record which has put untold pressure on food production and contributed to a collapse in farm business confidence, causing a dramatic decline in the area planted of cereals for the 2024 harvest.

At the same time, record-breaking global temperatures have impacted key exporting countries across the world. Imports make up 84 per cent of fresh tomatoes on sale in the UK, yet tomato imports from Spain and Morocco fell by 17 per cent in February 2023 compared to the five-year average.

In the same time period, imports of lettuce varieties fell by more than 36 per cent, contributing to shortages on shop shelves as UK production also fell.

The NFU highlighting multiple ways the new Government can help ensure self-sufficiency doesn’t drop in the future:

- An increased multi-year agriculture budget for the duration of this Parliament, as was the case in the previous Parliament;

- Ensure all new policies and regulations that impact agricultural and horticultural businesses undergo a food security impact assessment;

- Introduce a statutory commitment to ensure the UK’s self-sufficiency does not drop below its current level;

- Ensure food imports are produced to the same standards as those that British farmers are required to meet by introducing a system of core standards for animal welfare and environmental impact;

- A seamless transition to new environmental schemes that are open to all farmers and growers;

- Deliver manifesto commitments of introducing a target for half of all food purchased across the public sector to be locally produced or certified to higher environmental standards;

- Update the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) to include a weighted argument in favour of food production;

- Supporting growth in the UK horticulture sector as outlined in the NFU’s Horticulture Strategy, developing policies around access to labour, crop protection, water, planning, and affordable and sustainable energy supply.