British farmers now grow only sixty percent of their own food. Prices in the UK for wheat, milk, butter, and meat have soared within the last couple of years, and global demand has forced Brits to pay inflated costs because of UK reliance on other countries for food. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs reports that less than half the food consumed in the UK is produced domestically; almost thirty percent is obtained from Europe with the remaining supply imported from around the globe. As world populations increase and land for agricultural use becomes scarce, local farming, and the domestic growth of food is vital.
Britain is dependent on other countries for its food supply because of reduced domestic farm production and fewer local farms. Since supermarkets can stock their shelves with lower priced food imported from around the globe, it’s not as profitable for them to pay local farmers more money for what they’re able to buy on the global market for less. So for instance, the UK only produces 10 per cent of the fruit it eats because supermarkets buy imported fruit that’s less expensive instead of supporting local farmers. When these supermarkets are unwilling to pay farmers a fair price for their crops, farmers they can’t afford to farm for very long and their numbers are dwindling.
A similar situation involves the plight of South American coffee growers; they’re stripped of land to grow food locally because they’re forced to use all their land to grow coffee that’s sold by huge corporations on the global market. Welcome the world of so-called Free Trade, which of course isn’t free trade at allit’s really forced trade.
Last May, Joanna Blythman with The Observer wrote: “UK-produced bacon and sausages are starting to look like endangered foods. Pig farmers are buckling under pressure from feed costs that have doubled in six months. The National Pig Association says that farmers lose £26 on every carcass they sell. Supermarkets have raised pork prices, but farmers are adamant that little of this is being passed on to them..British pig producers have never been subsidised and have no insulation against market forces. After years of sustained downward-price pressure from retailers, they say they simply don’t have enough fat on their backs to survive, can’t compete with countries like Denmark and Holland, where lower animal-welfare standards make pork cheaper to produce, and accuse UK supermarket chains of disloyalty to British pork. According to the National Pig Association, 95 per cent of British pig farmers are thinking about giving up”
A Food Futures report, “Rethinking UK Strategy”, quotes food experts who consider a UK food crisis as “highly likely”.
According to the report: “What we had thought of as abundant food supply is anything but. Western societies, in particular, have tended to take their food supply for granted. The global system will reach breaking point unless action is taken…A crisis could develop through some form of external ‘shock’, such as animal or crop disease, or extreme weather events..A global food crisis caused by harvest failure and food shortages could also impact directly on British interests through restrictions on trade and reduced availability of both agricultural commodities and key inputs to domestic food production”
Unless the UK addresses these issues the country will continue to be held hostage by national food chains and a global food market controlled by corporate giants whose only concern is profit.
Related articles
- What’s Obama Doing For the Food Industry? (laist.com)
- Ireland issues pork health alert (news.bbc.co.uk)
- Farm Bill Redux (chefann.com)