As I see it: UK farmers cream of the crop
I take the concerns of my constituents incredibly seriously, whether I’m in Sherwood visiting local businesses or in Westminster voting on legislation, and a topic that has kept cropping up (pardon the pun) in my inbox for the past few months is food security, writes Mark Spencer.
In Sherwood, we are home to many incredible local farms who work day-in-day-out to yield home-grown British produce that feeds families across not only in our constituency, but across the country.
However, the coronavirus pandemic and the current unrest in Europe due to Vladimir Putin’s cruel invasion of Ukraine has seen global food prices, fertiliser prices and production costs soar and have, undoubtedly, been a cause for concern across households nationwide.
I want to, first, offer some words of reassurance. I feel strongly the unprecedented times of the past two years have ultimately served as a valuable reminder of the crucial importance of the UK’s food producers to our national resilience in times of hardship.
During the first lockdown, our nation’s food supply chain responded to an unprecedented 50% surge in demand and, as always, they did not let us down. At every stage of the food system in this country, from farming to manufacturing, distribution and retail, key workers across the food industry delivered this logistical triumph for Britain.
It is important to remember the UK is largely self-sufficient in many products, including wheat, most meats, eggs and some sectors of the vegetable industry.
Overall, the UK produces around 74% of what we consume of these products.
Our food security has been broadly stable for the past 20 years, and I am in no doubt that the government’s newly published Food Strategy will work to keep it at broadly that level in future, with the potential to increase it in areas such as seafood and horticulture.
Farmers underpin the resilient food production we see in this country and play a huge part in ensuring that our food production is sustainable and maintains output, and the Food Strategy recognises this.
The government plans to spend over £270m across its farming innovation programmes, and ministers have worked to bolster funding for farmers to be able to invest in new equipment to boost their productivity due to a surge in demand.
The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) is now open for applications in England, and I encourage farmers across our constituency to apply as, given current fertiliser prices, we must pioneer new technologies to manufacture more organic-based fertiliser products to reduce soil erosion. The schemes will ensure long-term food security by investing in the foundations of food production: healthy soil, water, and biodiverse ecosystems.
Our nation’s farmers do more than keep us fed — they help to retain the beauty of our country’s landscapes in a way that is sustainable and principled. They display unrivalled levels of commitment and workmanship, all while maintaining world-leading animal welfare standards.
I hope constituents heed my advice when worrying about the resilience of our food security — have faith in our food sector, who have never let us down.
