Eating More UK-Grown Fruit And Veg Could Deliver £2.3 Billion Economic Boost

Expanding the UK’s horticulture sector to meet healthy eating guidelines could deliver a £2.3 billion boost to the economy, according to new research from Green Alliance.

Analysts have found that increasing the production and consumption of British-grown fruit and vegetables could surpass the total economic contribution currently made by pork production. The expansion could create over 23,000 new jobs and raise farm incomes by 3 percent, the charity’s report revealed.

To achieve this, the volume of fruit and vegetables consumed in the UK would need to rise by 86 per cent. Currently, only around a third of adults manage to eat the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables each day.

Despite using less than 1 per cent of the country’s farmland, horticulture already generates £5 billion annually, accounting for 9 per cent of agriculture’s overall economic contribution. The report argues that expanding the sector makes strong economic sense, especially since only 16 per cent of fruit and 50 per cent of vegetables consumed in the UK are grown domestically.

Researchers have stressed the need for a dedicated horticultural strategy to address significant challenges facing growers, including high energy costs, unfair supply chains, and a food retail system that profits more from unhealthy products than from fresh produce.

Importantly, the report highlights that expanding horticulture would not harm the UK’s ability to produce other foods. It estimates that an additional 113,622 hectares would be required to increase production by 86 per cent — a figure smaller than the 133,000 hectares currently used to grow bioenergy crops for fuel rather than food. Bioenergy crops are cited as an inefficient form of energy production, producing 100 times less energy per hectare than solar power and heavily reliant on government subsidies.

Lydia Collas, Head of Natural Environment at Green Alliance, emphasised the importance of growing more fresh produce domestically. She said: “The UK public needs to eat more fruit and vegetables to improve health. But if we don’t grow more of them here, we’ll let profitable horticulture and the jobs it could support go elsewhere.

“We currently import more than half of our apples when we have everything we need to eat British apples year-round.

“If the government is serious about improving people’s health and ensuring farmers have sustainable livelihoods, it needs a horticulture strategy.”

Source: Farming UK