Should the UK be more self-sufficient?

We actually buy our lamb locally straight from the farm where the sheep are reared. It costs less than the equivalent 'British lamb' from Tesco and tastes far better. This means the (female) farmer gets a bit more for her meat (cut out the middleman) and we know its provenance.

I buy my meat, poultry and eggs from a local farmer too, but it costs more than a supermarket. I live on my own and only eat meat once or twice a week. I couldn't afford it, if I had a family to feed and I doubt if the country could sustain direct buying for the whole population.

I don't eat potatoes, pasta, pastry, bread or rice and rarely eat root vegetables. I avoid tinned and bottled veg, because they're packed full of sugar and salt, especially tomatoes.

Most of my carbs come from raw salad veg and brassicas and my protein from fish and eggs. It suits me, but I don't think a whole population could eat like that, especially if we had to rely on UK produced produce.

Unless the country invests heavily in renewable energy sources, I doubt very much that we can be self-sufficient. The UK's wealth is built on trade and adding value to raw materials. I really can't see us turning back the centuries in our lifetime.

The UK has developed sophisticated trading and financial skills. Those are our real strengths and are now possibly being thrown away...or...maybe not. There are rumours that the powers that be want to turn the UK into a turbo-charged Singapore-type economy, which is worrying.

On the North Norfolk coast around Brancaster and the rest of Chelsea-on-Sea there are expensive farm shops which are very popular with the second-homers and London retirees who're used to paying more and holiday makers only used to shopping in big supermarkets. (At one you can have your expensive tea and cake in a yurt).

Go a few miles inland and there's a family farm (actually several farms all belonging to different family members) with attached small shops selling local produce, PYO fruit and their own meat. They're cheaper than Tesco and much better quality. We have another farm shop near us hidden down a long track selling, amongst other local produce, their own high quality milk from their own herd - the cows use the milk-themselves system and are on grass as long as possible. Their semi-skimmed tastes like full cream cheap supermarket stuff.

It's worth shopping around and supporting local farmers. That way they don't go out of business and we get to have wonderful food.

The renewable windfarm energy is going great guns off our coasts. One large farm after another is being built. The few patches of horizon with no wind turbines in sight is becoming quite a rarity and they're bringing needed jobs. The trouble is none seem to be UK owned.

The trouble is Nfk that local farms and shops don't solve the problem of how to feed the millions of people who live in cities. Most of Norfolk is sparsely populated and what you're describing couldn't be transplanted to densely populated urban areas.

I wouldn't mind betting that there almost as many people employed by the food processing industries in Kings Lynn as in the Norfolk fields. What happens to their jobs, if everybody buys local?

I don't think there can ever be more than a small amount of the population buying fresh, and local or growing their own, but some years ago there wasn't much interest in it at all,and now there is, the very proliferation of farm shops proves this, I hope it continues and grows.
Of course we need supermarkets as well, but a lot of people are now more picky about produce and where it comes from than they used to be, which is a good thing.

You're not that picky roses about your carrots being an odd shape, or your asparagus being different lengths and widths, or your leeks needing more washing out of soil when you've grown it yourself. We're just happy some of our allotment produce hasn't fallen foul of club root, carrot fly, caterpillars, slugs, pigeons, rats or thieving humans!

That's a good point Nfk about the differing prices in farm shops. However, we are importing too many basics repeat basics that we ought to be growing ourselves.

Upthread someone mentioned Kenya growing flowers for export and wondering how it would affect their farmers if this trade was cut off. Perhaps they would be better advised to grow food for their own home market?

You are right Anya although when I said more picky I was thinking that we are more discerning and thinking more about buying good stuff.A lot buy organic in the supermarket too, and look at where produce ( including meat) comes from.There is generally more interest in food now.

I had a lengthy conversation with a senior buyer of a well known supermarket at a social gathering and was peed off annoyed at his reply to my question regarding a fair price for our British producers, I asked why the company he worked for loved to brag about their fairtrade policy with growers overseas who produced coffe, chocolate, bananas etc yet paid our producers at such a low rate they were forcing them out of business, his reply was "who gives a sh*t about a white face when you get more brownie points from joe public when you have a gap toothed black face on a poster"

I have absolutely no idea how much Kenyan farmers receive for exported flowers, but it's probable that they receive more for exporting flowers than they would if they grew products for their home market, which earns Kenya hard currency. For them, it's a way of moving away from subsistence farming and I don't see why they shouldn't.

75% of the Kenyan population is employed in agriculture and cut flowers account for 10% of the country's exports. With better governance, Kenya could be a wealthy country. The high number of people employed in agriculture indicates inefficiency. It should be looking to mechanisation, but needs foreign currency to do that.

Incidentally, the same thing has happened in South America with quinoa. It's been a staple food in the Andes for centuries, but became trendy and the farmers can earn far more from exporting and have priced out local consumers. The advantage is that countries such as Peru can earn more money - all they need is a government to make sure the profits are distributed equitable...hmmm!

The problem is more to do with local governments than globalisation itself.

That's awful, grannypiper. I'd have been tempted to name and shame with the supermarket he works for and then with a national newspaper....preferably the Daily Mail

That is a racist remark grannypiper

merlotgran good idea!!

Agree with merlot & Jalima that's a disgustingly racist remark. I hope you pulled him up on it grannypiper?

I think it is hard to load all the blame on local overseas governments. In UK we know that farmers have been asked to produce crops of certain appearance, not because of EU rules but because the big corporations marketing dept. felt it would increase sales. Large amounts of crops that did not measure up were not accepted by the purchasers. If experienced UK farmers/NFU were unable to fight the corporations I am not sure that regional government officers etc in Kenya were going to have much luck!

Daphnedill, all those carrots etc from around Kings Lynn are sold in the farm shops too! It's local produce! Not imported from Israel.

Meet the carrot farmers
britishcarrots.co.uk/meet-the-producers/

Carrots, when they have been soaking in a herby chicken casserole for an hour or so, are heaven on a fork.

@Daphnedill
We no longer import butter from NZ. If you are thinking of Anchor Butter that comes from a scandinavian company and has done so for many years.

We had to give up our Commonwealth trading associations when we joined the EEC in the start. Brussels insisted.

Anchor butter is made in Westbury, Wiltshire, using British cream.

Yes, I know Anchor Butter is made in Wiltshire.

PS. I don't eat carrots or any other root vegetable and there is no way I would soak any vegetable for an hour in anything.

Try reading what I wrote Nfk. I wasn't just referring to carrots. There are thousands of people employed in the food processing industry in King's Lynn.

You haven't answered the query anyway. How do people in cities 'buy local'?

I live a very short distance from the city of Manchester. Right slap bang in the middle of Piccadilly Gardens, in the main hub of the city, are market stalls selling fresh fruit and vegetables. One stall, in particular, has a sign on his stall saying that he sells produce obtained from market gardens on the outskirts of Manchester ie, locally sourced. They do a roaring trade from the city workers going past on their way to Piccadilly Station and the central bus and tram stations. That's how city workers "buy local".

CardiffJ just posted that it is a Scandinavian import daphned

I suppose 'local' could mean within a reasonable number of miles and not imported, the fewer food miles the better.
Carrots in a casserole are lovely and longer cooking softens the cell walls enabling the vit. A to be released more easily.

There are far more good markets in big towns and cities than in the country!

I thought you were just using carrots as an example daphnedil, rather than list onions cabbages, cauliflowers, peas, beans etc, etc which are mostly packed or processed in Kings Lynn.

I'm no expert as Norwich isn't that big and manages to have several farmers markets and independents dotted around the place. I gather though, from a friend who lives in Manchster, there's no problem buying good quality food from local butchers, bread shops and green grocers. It's one of the ticks in the game of Manchester is better than Nowich/ oh no it isn't!

I do remember several years ago my DD1 moaning because the last independent butcher selling local meat in her part of Welwyn Garden City had closed. But shopping habits are changing and the hyper-markets are failing as people come to realise that good quality food may sometimes cost more, but it goes further, so perhaps they're coming back.

Britain has so much variety of foodstuffs it does seem silly to import things we can grow or raise.

As to solar farms. They were sold on the idea that free range chickens can roam underneath and I have seen sheep grazing around them too. They can be difficult to spot from a moving car!

I'm all for buying local - but just a thought - if farmers increase production of fruit and veg where will they get the seasonal workers from? We aren't really self sufficient there. To attract local workers ( who maybe don't even exist in rural areas in large numbers) wages would have to rise considerably and even then they probably wouldn't get many takers- and consequently prices would go up. I saw a piece on Coutryfile where a farmer was saying he couldn't recruit enough seasonal workers for this summer (2017). Many U.K. Farmers are going to have to be given huge subsidies if they are to stay afloat. I wouldn't be surprised if part of the Brexit deal allows farmers to employ EU seasonal workers.