Support Local Produce, Urges MEP Date

DUP MEP Diane Dodds has urged retailers and consumers alike to support local British produce in light of recent figures suggesting that self-sufficiency in the UK is continuing to drop year on year.

Highlighting the capacity for local farmers to produce more if the market returned a viable profit, Mrs Dodds said: “The National Farmers Union is currently campaigning to raise awareness of the decreasing levels of food self-sufficiency and of the need to support British farmers to reverse this trend.

“The figures are quite stark; self-sufficiency is dropping by two percent year on year and 60 per cent last year. “In 1991, enough food was produced in the UK to feed the nation for 274 days of the year and today it is 219 days. This is a worrying trend when farmers could produce more if the market returned a viable profit.

“It is sad as there is scope and willingness among farmers, however retailers in the majority are holding them back.

“In fact, as self-sufficiency decreases we are exposing the nation to a greater reliance on others for a stable of life.”

25/08/2014