The Soil Association has said the UK must stop relying on imports and fix diets by doubling the land used to grow fruit and vegetables.
This would only be a small change, the environment charity said, taking horticulture from around 2% to 4% of farmland.
The Soil Association has co-ordinated an open letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer on scaling up the UK horticulture sector.
The signatories on the letter include chefs Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Anna Jones alongside author Dr Chris van Tulleken and farming influencers like Sinead Fenton.
They warn that if the current decline in British fruit and vegetables continues, the UK will “face further disaster” for supermarket shelves, public health and the environment.
The call follows a new report from environment charities the Soil Association, Sustain and the Wildlife Trusts that says action must be taken to boost consumption of local and nature-friendly fruit and vegetables, like organic.
It insists farmers and growers must be given a fair deal and put in the driving seat to deliver sustainable food security and healthy diets.
A sector facing ‘devastating decline’
The letter states that the UK’s fruit and vegetable sector is facing “devastating decline”.
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.
“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.”
UK horticulture
The report from Soil Association, Sustain and the Wildlife Trusts calls for Starmer to go further than the last government and revive plans for a UK horticulture strategy.
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: “British fruit and veg is in crisis. 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.”
Agroecological systems that work with nature rather than against it, the charities behind the report say, should be prioritised to create a sector reliant on a healthy and resilient ecosystem instead of pesticides and artificial fertilisers.
The groups also call for farmers and growers to be supported through a shift away from farming on peat.
Strategic lead on agriculture for the Wildlife Trusts and co-author of the report, Vicki Hird, 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.”
