We don't need our farmers and fishermen

I read somewhere that it was about the mid 1700s.

What happens if we have widespread floods as we do at present, farmers cannot plant crops or lose those which were growing?

Rice? Tea? Coffee?
Should I turn the garden over to a tea plantation?
Or perhaps all those flooded meadows could be turned into paddy fields.

We wouldn’t “want” to be self sufficient it would be pretty tough, we are largely self sufficient in cereals, vegetable production could easily increase, eliminating waste alone would add 40%, livestock production could increase greatly, there is a large area of under used grassland.
The real changes would be lack of tropical crops of all kinds from rice to bananas.

If we do import more we are not helping to offset global warming, or environmental damage we are merely exporting our pollution to another country. Importing Wheat from the US only increases soil erosion there, Beef from Brazil increases rainforest destruction, so there is a very good case for retaining control of most of our food production

But .. but … but the government (via its advisor) is saying that agriculture and fishing aren't important. They're not talking about self-sufficiency.

I thought they said fisheries were were a redline they were sticking to and taking back control, no compromise. We will know by next Christmas just what the future for food production is going to be.

At present the only decision to be made is do we a want food produced to lower standards.

Perhaps by claiming we don’t actually need our fishing or farming industries is their way of taking back control?

Smoke, mirrors and sleight of hand seems to be the Tories order of the day.

Even in the days of subsistence agriculture in Britain, food was still imported and exported. I recently visited a Roman villa in Berkshire, Built and operating in the very late Roman period whn the empire was falling apart. It flourished because Britain was fairly peaceful when Europe wasn't and the villa owner, one of many made his money by selling surplus wheat to a war torn Europe. In the meanwhile luxury foods like figs, herbs and spices wer being imported.

As the report Irefer to on the previous page suggests, is that we will have the capacity to be self sufficient if we need to, but otherwise will be both exporting and importing foods we cannot grow but which we wish to eat. It is not an either or. It is a 'can if we have to'

I agree MOnica. It's unrealistic to suggest that the UK will ever be self-sufficient in food. It's also ludicrous to suggest that agriculture and fishing aren't important - to the economy, employment, the environment or anything else.

What the government seems to be saying is that farming will no longer be able to rely on subsidies. That makes sense from a purely economic point of view (maybe), but there would be all sorts of repercussions. I don't think it was what farmers thought they were voting for before the referendum.

Apparently, the UK has a trade surplus on fish with the EU. British fishermen actually catch loads of fish, but the British don't like eating it, so we export what we catch and import what we want to eat.

The UK also has a trade surplus on barley, which is used mainly for animal feed, but we have to import wheat, especially the high protein wheat used for bread, from North America and Germany.

The UK also imports rice, tea, coffee and loads of other foodstuffs, which can't be grown in the UK. We also import 95% of our wine.

Personally, I hardly eat anything made from grain, including bread, and rarely eat root vegetables, so I'd be a bit lost if the UK didn't import anything. I don't drink alcohol, so that wouldn't bother me, but I think most people would be put out. Most British-grown strawberries and tomatoes are grown hydroponically under glass/plastic and lack taste. I can't see the country choosing to live on only what could be produced in the UK.

I don't really fancy a diet of potatoes, eels and barley.

I agree with you too SirChenjin. I wouldn't trust this government to go tiddler fishing in a pond. I think the announcement about fishing not being important is a softening up exercise. Even if the UK does "take back control" of its waters, it's still got to sell the stuff it catches because we don't want it.

It has always surprised me how little fish the British eat considering we are surrounded by water. Cod and haddock of course as in fish and chips, but apart from that? Probably salmon. What is it about this ”we don't want to eat it”?

Tuna and prawns too, which we import.

If Johnson sticks to his guns on fishing, the price of British-caught fish is likely to go down if tariffs increase and the catch increases. On the other hand, the fish we eat will increase in price because tariffs go up. No wonder the government doesn't think fishing is important! It's lose-lose for fishermen and consumers.

I don't really fancy a diet of potatoes, eels and barley

But...but... it’s British ?? growstuff By not wanting to eat eels you’re actually saying you hate Britain aren’t you

Grrrrrrrrrrrr! Yeah! Hate Britain!

I'm quite keen on bacon, sausage, black pudding and eggs though. I even buy British bacon from a local farm. Is that good enough?

Hmmm... you’re getting there

re the loss of interest of fish as a food. Our Tesco fish counter closed from Sat. to Wed. last year.
Fish is a major source of healthy oils, protein and other essential minerals.

Perhaps we could all go back to keeping a pig in the back garden and feed it kitchen waste.

My mother kept chickens during the war and the non layer provided an excellent Christmas dinner. She drew a line at keeping a pig.

My grandparents kept a pig in the back garden! I don't remember that as it was when my mother was young.

feed it kitchen waste we would have H&S on our case. Even if they were the best fed pigs in the country!

What happens if we get potato blight with all this rain?

I like idea of a pig! Perhaps we should turn our gardens over to carrots and dig for victory as we wave our black-not-blue passports and shout “down with the Jerries” ??

I would have some chooks but apparently the deeds don't allow it.
We do grow carrots, or, as I said above, I could print them by the million.

What happens if we get potato blight with all this rain?

Spuds are rotting in the wet conditions.

I love the idea of printed carrots ?

Y’see, it’s this sort of positive attitude that will carry us over those bumps in the road to a brighter, less fattening and taste free post-Brexit future. May God bless you all!

Sorry to rain on your parade but..... no pigs allowed!

You can't keep a pet pig at your home until you get a county parish holding ( CPH ) number from the Rural Payments Agency ( RPA ). You must also tell the Animal and Plant Health Agency ( APHA ) that you're keeping pigs, within 30 days of your first pet pig arriving on your land. APHA will give you a herd mark.

So chucks it is.

I am experimenting, unfortunately the first batch turned out as turnips.

Sold for pig feed,.

I can eat their eggs (the chooks) but can't eat them.

No eggs and chips then, POGS

Print some chickens? Or do they object to being squeezed through the printer?