The U.K. is leaving the European Union at a time when it needs foreign food more than anytime in the past five decades.
Self-sufficiency has been in decline since the 1980s, with the country producing 60 percent of its own food in 2016, according to data from the National Farmers’ Union.
Statistics
According to NFU President Meurig Raymond, speaking in The Guardian newspaper at the weekend, “Food self-sufficiency statistics have always been an important measure of the nation’s ability to feed itself.
"But since the UK voted to leave the EU, and with trade negotiations now starting, the supply of British food is now seen in a very different light. Government recognition of farming’s enormous contribution to this country will be vital in the coming weeks and months."
Last Sunday, August 6, was the notional day in the calendar that food in the UK would run out, if the country was forced to feed itself each year, commencing on 1 January.
Some groups, such as Policy Exchange, have argued that achieving self-sufficiency could be “enormously expensive” and lead to environmental damage.
News by Bloomberg, additional reporting by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
