The NFU has said it is 'shocking' that just over half of the food eaten by the British public is grown in the UK.
The finding is included in a new EFRA committee report, which also found that the number of households experiencing food insecurity was at a greater proportion than it was during the pandemic
One fifth of households experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in January 2023, according to the food security report.
It quoted Lady Manningham Buller, who warned that “many had taken food security granted”.
MPs who sit on the committee put forward recommendations for the government to develop a suite of food security indicators that influence policy in order to maintain the UK’s current rate of self-sufficiency.
NFU President Minette Batters said that the report’s finding that only 54% of the food eaten in UK is grown here as “shocking”.
She voiced her concerns that the number could decrease further "if British food and farming isn’t valued".
The report identified two key issues as particular challenges to the UK’s food supply; fertiliser production and carbon dioxide availability, and labour shortages.
On the former of these, the report said: “The government has not set out the steps it will take to protect domestic production of nitrogen fertiliser and ammonia used in it” and that “reliance on a single nitrogen fertiliser plant increases the risks to the UK’s food security”.
Mrs Batters said the report’s acknowledgement of the risk of there only being one fertiliser factory in the UK was “timely” and referred to CF Fertiliser’s recent announcement, which confirmed it will be permanently closing its Billingham ammonia plant.
The EFRA committee suggested that the government should support increase production of fertiliser in the UK.
Labour shortages were also identified as having “seriously impacted the food and farming industry”, in the report’s reference to the findings of the government’s Independent Labour Review which was tasked with looking at labour shortages across agriculture.
Mrs Batters welcomed the recommendation for “strong leadership on food security” and called on all government departments to take a “coordinated approach towards food policy”.
She said: “At such a tricky time for many UK households, the report addresses much of the inflationary pressures experienced by both families and farmers and growers.
"Everyone should have access to affordable, quality, sustainable food and British farmers and growers need the support of government to have the confidence to continue producing.
"With one of the best climates in the world for producing food, we should be aiming to produce more food here in the UK.
“For this to continue, we need to see government act on the recommendations made by the committee to bolster Britain’s food security.”
