The National Farmers’ Union is correct that “the two main responsibilities of any government are to defend its people and feed its people” (Brexit could leave Britain with a bare larder, farmers warn, 5 August). Recent history, notably the 2007-08 world food price crisis, shows that cheap food imports cannot be guaranteed. Further, the consequences of climate change and a rapidly growing population on the global food supply are unknown.
We rely heavily on other EU member states for food. Defra statistics show that in 2016 70% of all UK food, drink and animal feed imports were from the EU. If no trade deal is arranged, we will revert to WTO rules and risk a dramatic increase in the cost of food, both as a result of tariffs on imports and a weaker pound. Currently, only 15% of fruit and 55% of vegetables eaten in the UK are grown here. Without a robust domestic farming strategy, rising prices mean the healthy food that families need will become less accessible.
According to a recent study by the IFS, the poorest 10% of families spend nearly a quarter of their income on food, while the richest 10% spend only a tenth. Rising food prices will hit the worst off the hardest. At a time when food poverty in the UK is already alarmingly high, and church-supported food banks provide the last defence against hunger for many, the government must make food security a priority.
Rt Rev Dr Alan Smith
Bishop of St Albans
• Maybe the “self-styled patriots” who voted for Brexit (Fear there’ll be food rotting in the fields after Brexit? It’s already starting, 5 August) should holiday in East Anglia, taking in the harvest like the families who travelled from London to the hop fields of Kent in the 1950s.
Shirley Williams
Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire
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