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Double UK fruit and veg production to fix diets and tackle climate crisis, says letter to government

22-Jul-2024 - Last updated on 23-Jul-2024 at 07:46 GMT

The letter warned that the UK is too reliant on imported fruit and vegetables. Credit: The Soil Association

The UK Government has been told to double the land used to grow fruit and vegetables in England in order to improve diets and ease the climate and nature crisis.

In an open letter co-ordinated by the Soil Association, figures from across the farming, food and environmental sectors called on new prime minister Sir Keir Starmer to scale up the UK horticulture sector.

With signatories including chefs Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Anna Jones and author Dr Chris van Tulleken, the letter warns that the UK will “face further disaster” for supermarket shelves, health and the environment if the decline in fruit and veg production is allowed to continue.

The letter highlighted that imports account for most of the fruit and nearly half of the veg consumed in the UK, while less than a third of people eat their five a day. Doubling the land used for horticulture in England, as the letter demands, would take the sector from around 2% to 4% of farmland representing a small change.

The recommendations in the letter follow the publication of a new report from the Soil Association, Sustain and The Wildlife Trusts which insists that farmers and growers are given a fair deal alongside action taken to boost consumption of local, organic and nature-friendly fruit and veg.

“Across the country, growers of all scales are working tirelessly to achieve a simple but vital mission: to nourish people with good food,” the letter reads.

“But the sector faces devastating decline. Nearly half of our growers fear for the survival of their businesses and fruit and veg consumption in the UK is at the lowest level in half a century. Less than a third of us eat our five-a-day.

“What’s more, the produce that does reach us is too often imported from countries that are increasingly impacted by extreme weather. Almost half of our veg and more than 80% of our fruit is imported. This cannot go on. We urgently need more – not less – home-grown fruit and veg, or we face further disaster for supermarket shelves, our health, and the environment.”

In other news, McCain Foods GB has issued an immediate recall notice for nine non-compliant products.