The real food and farming campaign

Citation

(2002), "The real food and farming campaign", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 32 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/nfs.2002.01732bab.004

The real food and farming campaign

The real food and farming campaign

It is estimated that 500,000 tonnes of food with a value of £400 million is thrown away each year in the UK. There are more than 300 chemicals approved for use on crops grown in the UK and farmers spray around one billion gallons of them on 95 per cent of the UK crops each year. The UK's national fruit collection has more than 2,300 varieties of apples but only a handful are available in the UK's supermarkets. Nearly 80 per cent of apples eaten in the UK in 1999 were imported compared with only 36 per cent in 1961. Demand for organic food is growing at the rate of 50 per cent each year but 75 per cent of this demand is being met by imported organic food. Friends of the Earth is calling for government action to support less intensive farming and to protect the countryside. The Realfood Web site is at www.foe.co.uk/realfood