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THE NFU has urged consumers, retailers, politicians and the wider food industry to ‘Back British Farming’ by highlighting August 7 as the day food would run out in the UK without imports.

Self-sufficiency for all food dropped 2 per cent year-on-year to 60 per cent in 2013, partly on the back of poor weather conditions. This compares with a figure of about 75 per cent in the early 1990s.

Without imports, food would therefore have run out today (Thursday, August 7), the NFU is pointing out in an effort to raise awareness about the widening trade gap for British food.

More - http://www.farmersguardian.com/home/lat ... 75.article

Yes, but as long as the wind blows, there will be overseas trade.

Whilst there will almost certainly always be SOME world trade, it seems most unwise to count on bulk food imports, as distinct from small volumes of spices or other specialities.

A severe oil shock would have a drastic effect, sailing ships could be built again, but that takes time and wont help in the near term.

Any substantial increase in food prices could render imports unaffordable.

Any substantial increase in the theft or hijacking of cargo ships could strangle trade.

I would again urge keeping a stockpile of food, whilst any reasonable stocks will eventually be used up, a "breathing space" of a year or two could save your life.

What is the relative nutritional value of the food we import relative that we grow?

If imports declined, how quickly could we adapt our agriculture to a national survival diet?

We could dump grain fed beef for a start. What next?

PS_RalphW wrote:What is the relative nutritional value of the food we import relative that we grow?

If imports declined, how quickly could we adapt our agriculture to a national survival diet?

We could dump grain fed beef for a start. What next?

Grain fed poultry, pigs and other livestock.
Also reduce the amount of prime land used for grazing and grow more crops instead.

PS_RalphW wrote:What is the relative nutritional value of the food we import relative that we grow?

If imports declined, how quickly could we adapt our agriculture to a national survival diet?

We could dump grain fed beef for a start. What next?

Sugar, Palm Oil, Soya
It would not be difficult to improve the nutritional value of the UK diet.

adam2 wrote:

PS_RalphW wrote:What is the relative nutritional value of the food we import relative that we grow?

If imports declined, how quickly could we adapt our agriculture to a national survival diet?

We could dump grain fed beef for a start. What next?

Grain fed poultry, pigs and other livestock.
Also reduce the amount of prime land used for grazing and grow more crops instead.

Don't forget biofuels like maize.

One of the small farms near me became a stud farm a couple of years ago, previously it was a mixed arable farm, and the one next door swapped it's dairy herd for a livery stable (converted the original farmhouse into stables).

Broad (fava) beans which are grown in the UK are mainly for export (Egypt I believe). They're an excellent crop which these isles could make more use of.

They take up little room as they grow vertically and shade out weeds. Nitrogen fixing plants, all the discarded material is great for compost.

The beans themselves can be eaten in the usual way - that is, boiled to death - or be processed into many formats such as falafel, refried beans, high-protein burgers etc and can even be made into pasta.

We have five varieties of lava beans growing prolifically at the moment, including a handsome purply-black one.

And that's just one single plant suggestion...

Yer not wrong! We had about 3 square metres on the Plot planted with Broadies this year and we got about 7 kg (after shelling) off them.

Today was also the first of our spud harvest: 13 kg from about 5 square m

emordnilap wrote:Broad (fava) beans which are grown in the UK are mainly for export (Egypt I believe). They're an excellent crop which these isles could make more use of.

Absolutely. There happens to be a field of them next door to us this year. The crop is slightly taller than me now, almost ready to harvest. There's a public footpath through the middle and it's like walking in a tunnel. Will probably be turned into animal feed or exported to the middle east.

Don't forget the nearly half of the food bought which is thrown away! BOGOFs will soon disappear.

Grain feed meat will be so expensive that it will almost join BOGOFs and disappear as well. Chicken will be the bird that is eaten at Christmas, once again, with pork eaten on Boxing Day.

Horseyculture will once again be the preserve of the very rich or those without cars as grass land is turned over to crops and cattle and sheep grazing. Horse burgers will become a feature of some peoples diet for a while as a lot of abandoned old nags are culled.

Broad beans make a very good humus as well.

I would have more sympathy for UK farmers, maybe as much as 1%, if they weren't stupid enough to buy the biggest tractor and trailer available - which are totally impractical for UK rural roads.

Its like the people that want more and more roads built for the ever increasing traffic jams.

If a few million people did away with their cars we could manage very well with the existing roads.


Maybe one of the viruses they keep inventing can solve the worlds food problems.

RenewableCandy wrote:Yer not wrong! We had about 3 square metres on the Plot planted with Broadies this year and we got about 7 kg (after shelling) off them.

Today was also the first of our spud harvest: 13 kg from about 5 square m

Broad beans are just about my favourite vegetable. I could happily eat just a bowlful of broad beans, mashed tattie and onion gravy.

Kune Kune pigs and Geese eat grass, so there are alternatives to grain fed varieties / species.