Does the UK Face Becoming Vegetarian?
Food Crisis Could Force a Vegetarian Diet on Britons
Aug 12, 2009
2009 is proving to be a bad year what with the economic downturn and swine flu. Now however, something new can be added to the list. According to a new official assessment on the UK’s food security, Britain faces the prospect of a vegetarian diet in the event of a world food shortage.
What Exactly is the Problem?
Several factors are to blame when it comes to the global food system and the strains that it’s harbouring, such as climate change, water shortage, low fish stock and changing land which makes growing the crops much harder. Dr Chris Atkinson, head of science at East Malling Research in Kent, UK announced on BBC News that ‘in the next few years the UK would not be able to rely on imports of cheap food. A number of places where the UK sources food, like southern Spain, Greece and Italy, are going to find it very difficult in the next 50 years to continue to produce the levels of food they currently do.’
Restrictions in trade of meat and poultry from Argentina and Brazil and climate change would be the biggest threats to the UK’s food and supply chain. However when it comes to climate change it would require new growing techniques such as reduced water usage in agriculture that would be needed to boost food population.
Consequently in the event of an extreme emergency every person would be eating a predominantly vegetarian diet, which would consist of cereals, fruit and vegetables and less meat and poultry. Even though the nation is 73 per cent self-sufficient in food production, higher than during the 1950s, Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary has ordered officials to prepare for a scenario where the country could feed itself.
Governments Plans for Britain’s Food
In the next five decades the world will have another three billion mouths to feed. As a result of this, the UK Government has proposed to help meet a United Nations target of increasing global food production by 70 per cent by 2050. New introductions however need to be discussed as to how the planet can secure its food supplies. One such way which ministers have left open for discussion is genetically modified (GM) crops which they believe could be part of a new green revolution to transform the food production.
Many however in the environmental movement have voiced their opposition, but Mr. Benn stated that ‘if GM can make a contribution, then we have a choice as a society and as a world about whether to make use of that technology. And the truth is we will need to think about the way in which we produce our food because one thing is certain, with a growing population, the world is going to need a lot of farmers and a lot of agricultural production in the years ahead.’ Mr Benn also claimed that GM crops could help with the boost of food production especially if some varieties were drought-resistant, required less water, fertilisers and pesticides.
The Future of Britain’s Food
Professor Bob Watson, chief scientist at the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), believes that food production has to be doubled over the next 50 years. This he believes can only be done with the development of all relevant technologies, including GM. ‘We need science and technology to find ways to double food production over the next 50 years in a way that is environmentally sound.’
So far, as a result of public opposition major British supermarkets don’t stock own-brand products with GM ingredients making non-GM ingredients more expensive because the US produces so many GM crops therefore inducing the need for a radical rethink on the way the UK produces its food.
Mr. Benn is anxious to engage the public in discussions about the future of the country’s food security and to ensure his audience that new production techniques don’t damage the UK’s natural resources. The UK Government however is very pro-GM and according to Clare Oxborrow, senior food campaigner at Friends of the Earth, ‘every time the UK gets the opportunity to vote on GM at European level, it votes in favour.’
Nothing however is going to happen overnight, but changes do need to be made which see global emissions being cut and new adaptations to the changing climate which will alter what can be grown and just as importantly, where.
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