Farmers Guardian, March 29th, Rt Hon Owen Paterson MP
There is no doubt that beating the Covid-19 pandemic will require a sustained, collective effort unknown in this country since the end of the second world war.
Those involved in food production, processing, distribution, sale and delivery will be vital in ensuring the success of our response.
We have not contemplated the possibility of scarcity in a generation.
In such circumstances, it becomes easy to take food production for granted, and for governments simply to assume that there will always be an unlimited source of safe food from overseas.
Indeed, over the last 30 years, the UK’s self-sufficiency in food has fallen steadily from almost 75 per cent to little over 60 per cent today.
But times like these serve as a dramatic reminder of the importance of domestic farmers, processors and distributors in keeping food on our tables.
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