Rubbish

Read an article recently in the Guardian. It hinted that the fall in UK self-sufficiency doesn’t matter. If this was indeed the intention of the article, it is in my opinion, a rubbish statement to make.

Food production matters. What we aren’t growing, we aren’t adding to the global pot. The reporter’s argument was that since it's a global market and we do import food, the declining domestic numbers/percentages don't matter. But declining production absolutely does matter. The more high quality food we produce, the more high quality food we can contribute to the global pot for others (i.e. other countries and human beings). Rant over.

Seriously, though, we have to understand that a selfish view of food production and consumption is not acceptable. There is a bigger picture which we need to deal with together. By together, I mean globally as well as domestically. For example, the European Union was set up as a single market with a policy for this self same issue. It's called the Common Agricultural Policy (the clue is in the name).  I agree it isn’t working exactly how it should. 

Finally, please don't demean farmers and the important work they do by implying food is just like steel or glass, as it is way too important and precious to be treated like just another commodity.