'Revolution' in UK politics needed to tackle food insecurity - FFA
Only a "revolution in British politics" will reverse the fast decreasing levels of UK food self-sufficiency, according to Farmers for Action (FFA).
The organisation's spokesperson, William Taylor, commented: “If boats stopped arriving at British ports tomorrow, UK food self-sufficiency levels would drop to 48% immediately.
“The claim that indigenous food output currently meets 64% of consumer demand in the UK is erroneous.
“This is because so much of the poultry sector’s output is driven by grain imports.”
According to FFA, the UK is currently home to some 200,000 farm businesses, a figure that is dropping by approximately 2.5% per annum.
"If this rate of decline is maintained, it could result in UK food self sufficiency levels dropping to around 30% over the next decade," Taylor said.
“Reversing this trend will require a revolution in British politics, one that will see Westminster committing to policies that deliver realistic prices at farm level.”
The FFA representative that the taxation policies implemented by the current labour government have acted to stymie economic growth while also reducing the amount of money available to spend on basic essentials - including food.
Taylor continued: “Prices across most of the food sectors are currently in decline.
"And this is having an extremely negative impact on farm gate returns. We need to see genuine wealth creation at farm levels.
"This will only be achieved when Westminster puts in place policies that genuinely support production agriculture.”
Earlier this year, FFA wrote to all of the UK’s major supermarkets, seeking their views on how best to deliver sustainability at farm levels.
The coming weeks will see the farm lobby group going public on the range of responses received back from the food retailers where these issues are concerned.
Northern Ireland Food and Drinks Association
Meanwhile, the wider debate on food security in the UK continues to develop at an exponential rate.
Many commentators believe this issue gets to the very heart of production agriculture in Northern Ireland.
They see the expansion of food output as being the way forward: not the consolidation of the sector.
This is a view strongly held by Northern Ireland Food and Drinks Association (NIFDA) chief executive, Michael Bell.
He explained: “It is current Westminster policy to retain food self sufficiency levels at around 63%.
“But given the backdrop of a growing population, this means that the indigenous output of agriculture in the UK must increase.
And the same principle holds where food processing is concerned."
The NIFDA representative believes that, in such a context, agriculture and food in Northern Ireland can expand significantly.
He said: “This will add to an already good news story.
"Northern Ireland currently account for 10% of all the food actually produced in the UK.
“So in many ways, we are already punching above our weight, given that such high levels of farming and food performance are being achieved from a region that accounts for only 3% of the UK’s total population.”
