The UK’s reliance on overseas suppliers for fruit and vegetables is leaving the country increasingly exposed to climate-related disruption, with 90 per cent of its top 20 import sources for these foods moderately to severely vulnerable to climate change, according to a new report from The Food Foundation.
The report, Farming for 5-a-day: how resilient is the UK’s supply of fruit, veg and beans in a changing climate?, warns that rising temperatures, drought and extreme weather could increase food prices and put healthy produce further out of reach for consumers.
The findings come as the UK itself faces the effects of changing weather, including wildfires and drought over the summer. However, The Food Foundation said many of the countries supplying the UK with healthy staple foods are even more exposed to climate change.
The UK imports around 40 per cent of its food overall, including 80 per cent of its fruit and 47 per cent of its vegetables. It has one of the lowest food self-sufficiency ratios among large Western European countries and is more reliant on imported fruit than France, Germany or Spain.
The report highlights the potential vulnerability of the supply of popular fruit and vegetables as climate impacts intensify. Of the UK’s nine most purchased fruits, five – apples, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and pears – can be grown domestically. However, the UK remains less than 40 per cent self-sufficient in four of these, suggesting scope to increase domestic production.
Some fruit, including citrus and bananas, will continue to require imports because they cannot be grown commercially at scale in the UK.
There is also scope to increase domestic production of several popular vegetables. Tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, cucumbers, onions, broccoli and green beans can all be grown in the UK, but only carrots currently have a high self-sufficiency rate, at 94 per cent. The other vegetables have self-sufficiency rates below 50 per cent.
The Food Foundation said the current balance between domestic food production and dietary recommendations is “mismatched”. Government guidance recommends that 41 per cent of the diet should come from fruit and vegetables, while these foods account for only 7 per cent of the food groups produced domestically.
The report argues that increasing domestic production would not only strengthen food security but could also support healthier diets. Fewer than one in three UK adults and fewer than one in 10 children aged 11-18 currently eat their recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.
The organisation is calling on the government to support farmers to grow more fruit and vegetables in the UK while helping them adapt to changing weather patterns, strengthen local food systems and improve the resilience of supply chains.
The economic opportunity is also significant, according to the report. Expanding the UK horticulture sector could add billions to the economy, create more than 20,000 jobs and increase farm profits by 3 per cent, bringing potential benefits to farmers, local economies and public health.
Anna Taylor, executive director at The Food Foundation, said the UK needed to act before climate-related disruption led to shortages and higher prices.
“Whilst the UK has been experiencing successive heatwaves and drought across much of the country, it is important to acknowledge that most of the countries we import our staple, healthy foods from are in an even more vulnerable position as we see the impacts of climate change ramp up across the globe,” she said.
“There is a risk this will drive up prices in the future, putting nutritious foods further out of reach for many, so it is important government takes action now to prevent this from happening.”
Taylor said the government should invest in increasing fruit and vegetable consumption, domestic production and support for farmers adapting to changing weather patterns.
Last week prime minister Andy Burnham announced £65 million extra funding for farmers hit by a drought after the driest July on record in England and Wales.
The extra government support would bolster an incentive scheme for sustainable farming, make it easier for farmers to build reservoirs and improve access to water during droughts.
The report also highlights the importance of climate adaptation within the UK, with domestic growers facing their own risks from drought, heat and changing weather patterns.
Ali Capper, executive chairman of British Apples and Pears Ltd, said the UK had the potential to improve food security by producing more fruit and vegetables domestically.
“We have an excellent growing climate in the UK and can create much greater food security by growing more fruit and vegetables here,” he said.
However, Capper said growers needed greater certainty around areas including seasonal labour, water availability, planning regulations and energy costs, alongside long-term agreements and profitable returns from the market.
The government’s forthcoming Horticulture Sector Growth Plan is therefore being positioned as a key opportunity to strengthen the UK’s horticultural supply chain.
The Food Foundation is calling for the plan to be backed by long-term statutory targets to increase national fruit and vegetable consumption and the proportion of fruit and vegetables supplied by British producers.
Professor Paul Behrens, British Academy Global Professor at the Oxford Martin School, pointed to the Netherlands as an example of what sustained policy support could achieve.
Dutch growers have around 1,770 hectares under glass for tomatoes alone, compared with 866 hectares for the UK’s entire protected vegetable sector, he said.
“The Dutch growers became a powerhouse from four decades of consistent, innovation-led policy. This report describes what Britain has lost by never making that choice and, perhaps more importantly, the urgent choices ahead and large opportunities we have by taking action on horticulture,” Behrens said.