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Brexit ideas of UK food self-sufficiency are just pipe dreams

#Facts matter |ÌýIn principle, it is a great idea for the UK to grow more of its food – but simple matters of geography, climate and population mean it is a no-go, says James Wong

By James Wong

23 October 2019

 

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Worawut Saewong/Shutterstock

WITH the global population predicted to hit close to 10 billion by 2050, and forecasts that agricultural production in some regions will need to nearly double to keep pace, food security is increasingly making headlines. In the UK, it has become a big talking point recently too, for a rather particular reason: Brexit.

Brexit is seen by some as an opportunity to reverse a recent trend towards the UK importing food. The country produces only about 60 per cent of the food it eats, down from almost three-quarters in the late 1980s. A move back to self-sufficiency, the argument goes,…

Article amended on 21 November 2019

We corrected the agricultural footprint associated with UK meat and dairy production.

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