We are unlikely to be able to feed an increasing global population

HAVING seen a response in the WSG letter page to the future of British agriculture, I would like to develop this a little further. The first question I'd like to address is whether we should be aiming for an increase in domestic food production - after all, until recently that hasn't been the view.

Agriculture has tended to be seen as, at best, a rather inconvenient by-product of land and countryside management; we are a trading nation and our own food security was not in danger.

So, are we right to aim for an increase in domestic food production? Should it be a priority at all?

There are four main reasons why I think it should. First, it’s what the great British consumer wants. A report by the IGD earlier this year showed that the proportion of shoppers specifically buying local food has doubled over the last five years.

According to the report, the credit crunch has awakened a form of food-patriotism among shoppers keen to support their local economy; and they expect it to be long-lasting.

That trend is borne out by the deals being struck by manufacturers and retailers.

Hovis, with their recent switch to 100 per cent British wheat in their loaves, Carling with 100 per cent British barley in their lager, Morrisons with 100 per cent British fresh beef, lamb and pork in their stores.

I think we can be fairly confident that doesn’t happen unless it’s good for business; unless it’s what their customers want.

Second reason is that primary food production is good for the economy; linking in with the first point, primary production is the platform that supports the largest manufacturing sector in the UK; the food and drink industry, which is worth some £23bn to the economy each year.

Primary producers’ share of that is around £7 billion; it’s held up well during the recession and it’s still holding up well and did you notice food and farming products heading the list of the big ticket deals signed during the UK’s biggest ever trade mission to China earlier this month? High genetic value breeding pigs, Scotch whisky, all good catalysts for increased home production and certainly on the breeding pig’s side, further cutting edge development.

Third reason is that it is what the Government wants. One of the first things Caroline Spelman, Defra Secretary of State said when she took office was that she wanted to work across government and beyond to ‘respond to the challenges of increasing food production’. David Cameron made a similar point when he spoke at the NFU’s centenary conference in 2008.