SA urges new PM to 'back British fruit and veg'
A new campaign has been launched by the Soil Association (SA) to safeguard the future of UK-grown fresh fruit and vegetables.
Save UK Fruit and Veg aims to elevate British fruit and vegetable production on the Government’s agenda.
Additionally, in an open letter to Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer, coordinated by the SA, signatories wrote: “We are writing to you in your first 100 days to congratulate you on becoming Prime Minister and ask you to back British fruit and veg. With your support, we can save our horticulture sector and the NHS — both of which are in crisis — while also helping nature.
“Fruit and veg are essential for a healthy diet, and British growers can deliver a huge variety of produce from the rich soils our nation provides. Across the country, growers of all scales are working tirelessly to achieve a simple but vital mission: to nourish people with good food. 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.
We urgently need morE … home-grown fruit and veg, or we face further disaster for supermarket shelves, our health and the environment.
“British growers don’t want to give up. They can help turn the tide on the public health crisis that is being driven by unhealthy diets and is costing the NHS billions. But they can’t do it alone. We call on you to back our farmers and help to scale up production across the nation — including around our towns and cities. You can start by committing to double the land used for horticulture in England. This would be a small change as the sector currently uses less than 2% of farmland, meaning more land is currently used to play golf than to produce fruit and veg. And with the right support from your new government, growers can be empowered to grow more and in a nature-friendly way, like our organic and regenerative producers who are nurturing the land, restoring wildlife and protecting waterways.
“Your intervention could make it possible for all fruit and veg producers to thrive — from field scale horticulture, to orchards, organic farms, market gardens and more — while also protecting precious lowland peat soils. Every grower has a part to play. By going further than the previous government’s Blueprint to grow the UK fruit and vegetable sector, and producing a bold, cross-departmental horticulture strategy, you could help restore the resilience of our food supply, improve the fairness of our supply chains and get more British produce on people’s plates. If done alongside action to influence people to eat more fruit and veg, you could be the government that helps to deliver healthy and sustainable food security for generations to come. We would welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss the steps government can take in delivering this ambition.”
Included in the long list of signatories was: Helen Browning, Soil Association chief executive; Andrew Burgess, chair of NFU Organic Forum; Anna Taylor, executive director at The Food Foundation; Caroline Lucas, former Green Party leader; Dr Chris van Tulleken, author of Ultra-Processed People; Ed Ayton, brand assistant at Abel & Cole; Guy Singh-Watson, founder of Riverford; Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, chef and founder of River Cottage; Joe Rolfe, managing director at RB Organics; Martin Lines, chair of the Nature Friendly Farming Network; Sebastian Pole, co-founder of Earthsong Foundation; Vicki Hird, strategic lead on agriculture at The Wildlife Trusts; and Will White, sustainable farming campaign coordinator at Sustain.
To pledge your support for Save UK Fruit & Veg, visit the campaign page.
By Rosie Greenaway, editor