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Convert animal feed cropland to growing vegetables for UK nutrition security

#null #Economics/jobs

To grow more crops we'll likely need more greenhouses, controlled environmental horticulture (CEH translated as glasshouses using combined heat and power, hydroponics, vertical farms etc), but they require quite a bit of energy.

The previous Sunak Government pledged to slash red tape around farmers expanding greenhouses and building single on-farm wind turbines, as well as expand the funding available for farmers looking to grow fruits and vegetables.

There are many strategies from others to halt the decline of the UK horticulture sector, many of which are covered here.

Just 2% of UK land is devoted to non-crop fruit and vegetable production, meaning that a doubling or tripling UK vegetable production could require very minimal land use change.

Under previous EU subsidy schemes, UK horticulture managed to produce a sizable portion of the nations food despite taking very little in subsidies compared to other forms of farming.

Glasshouse growers have operated in the Lea Valley, a 450-acre area north of London, for over 100 years. This land accounts for around 65% of the UK’s cucumber and pepper production, as well as tomato and aubergine production. Approximately 50% of growers in the Lea Valley Growers Association could not plant crops in 2022 due to high energy costs.

Cusworth et al., 2022 detail how increased use of "plasticulture" such as polyethane tunnels and . Plasticulture is an inexpensive way to extend growing seasons, manage weeds, pests and disease, and optimize water use. This has allowed the UK to greatly increase production of soft fruits such as strawberries raspberries in the last 30 years, almost doubling raspberry production between 1996 and 2015. One the other hand, care must be taken to ensure that the plastic used does not leach into soils and is properly disposed of.

As Josiah Meldrum from Hodmedod put it, shifting to plant-based production makes rural areas more resilient. “We previously came up with the Norwich food resilience project – asking, can Norwich feed itself? The answer was yes, if we change land use and diets. We made a big spreadsheet and came up with a scenario that could be replicated, depending on landscape, of course. But it would be predominantly plant-based. We did see a function for animals, such as in recycling food waste. But it would be much more in line with the EAT-Lancet plate than the current set of norms.” Tim Strang, farming his sheep on the hills in Wales, suggests there is the opportunity in his area to return to growing oats.

University of Warwick report on the economic potential of fruit and vegetables

A report by the University of Warwick outlines a plan for revolutionising UK vegetable production, adding an additional £0.5B (+28%) a year to the UK economy by 2032, more than doubling skill agricultural jobs to 131,000. and diverse from a healthier UK population eating 30% more fruits and vegetables. Key to this plan was a 50% increase in domestic fruit and vegetable production.

Notably, they highlight that horiculture has seen severe loss of R&D funding from UKRI, DEFRA and the AHDB, whereas research grants towards livestock remain high.

Case study: Thanet Earth

Thanet Earth, which managed to extend the UK cucumber season by a month thanks to the introduction of new lighting and heating in its glasshouses. The cucumber season now runs for all but two months of the year, with the added benefit that the power generated by the firm’s systems is fed back into the national grid, offering enough electricity to power 50,000 homes, the firm says.

The Netherlands is a blueprint of vegetable production for Europe

More reading on veg