More land used to play golf than to produce fruit and veg, campaigners say

The Soil Association, Sustain, and The Wildlife Trusts are urging the government to reduce its reliance on imports and take action to boost consumption of local and nature-friendly fruit and vegetables. 

Campaigners have highlighted the “vulnerability” of UK horticulture, warning that public health will be further at risk if current trends continue and production declines further. 

They are raising the alarm over the fact that imports account for most of the fruit and nearly half of the vegetables consumed in the UK, while less than a third of people eat their five a day. 
 
They call for government intervention to back sustainable British farmers and growers and for land used for horticulture in England to double. This would only be a small change to take horticulture from around 2% to 4% of farmland. 
 
The letter to Keir Starmer points out that more land is currently used to play golf than to produce fruit and vegetables. 

This cannot go on 

The letter says: “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 devasting 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.” 

Sector in crisis 

The report from Soil Association, Sustain and The Wildlife Trusts calls for PM Starmer to go further than the last government and revive plans for a UK horticulture strategy, which were scrapped last year. 

It also calls for the UK government to put more money into incentives for nature-friendly fruit and vegetable production, including organic, alongside tailored support for small-scale growers. 
 
Report co-author and Soil Association senior policy officer Lucia Monje-Jelfs said that British fruit and vegetables sector is “in crisis”.  

She added: “Our diets are costing the NHS billions every year and the countries we import from are being hit by the impacts of climate change.  

“If we scaled up agroecological horticulture like organic, boosting access to healthy and sustainable food across the country, we could help to reverse the public health disaster, slash farming emissions, and restore wildlife. The new government must act to support the country’s growers.” 
 
The campaigner also urged the government to invest in farmer-led research to support sustainable and nature-friendly methods of farming on peat and to explore opportunities for growing crops in wetland conditions, also known as paludiculture. 
 
Vicki Hird, strategic lead on agriculture for The Wildlife Trusts and co-author of the report, said: “Transforming our fruit and vegetable growing sector is vital for our health, climate, nature and for the precious lowland peat habitats that are currently destroyed by growing these products.  

“We need to ensure we can grow more fruit and vegetables everywhere – and do this using sustainable methods that don’t harm the climate, and that work alongside nature using integrated pest management.

“Growers need to be supported in this period of change and must be treated fairly in the marketplace so that the transition to nature-friendly growing can happen for the long term.” 

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