Giant glasshouses return to the countryside as part of food strategy

GIANT greenhouses will be given planning permission under a “grow for Britain” strategy to be unveiled by Boris Johnson, aiming to end the UK’S reliance on overseas food.

The plans announced today by the Government include reviewing the current planning permission process to support the development of “glasshouses” to increase the amount of Ukgrown food the country consumes.

Parts of the country, such as the Lea Valley, used to have around 1,200 of these buildings in the 1960s to grow fruit and vegetables.

They have fallen to around 300, as over time the nation has produced less of the food it consumes. It is understood that the UK needs to increase the amount of food it produces.

It has been revealed that just 23 per cent of the UK’S cucumbers and 15 per cent of its tomatoes are supplied domestically.

It is also hoped that the rising cost of energy for farms can be helped by making use of surplus heat and CO2 from industrial processes, and renewable sources of energy.

It comes as part of the Government’s Food Strategy, which lays out how the country can be more resilient to global upheaval such as that seen as a result of the war in Ukraine, which has impacted supermarket stock levels.

The Prime Minister said: “Our Food Strategy sets out a blueprint for how we will back farmers, boost British industry and help protect people against the impacts of future economic shocks by safeguarding our food security.

“Harnessing new technologies and innovation, we will grow and eat more of our own food – unlocking jobs across the country and growing the economy, which in turn will ultimately help to reduce pressure on prices.”

The strategy, which was leaked to The Daily Telegraph last week, also contains plans to look into replacing seasonal worker visas with poultry workers on British turkey farms and swapping fruit pickers from eastern Europe with robots.

The report has been delayed twice since the publication of an independent review by Henry Dimbleby, the founder of Leon, last July. However, several of

Mr Dimbleby’s recommendations have been ditched by the Government, such as the expansion of free school meals and nutrition standards for food in schools.

Similarly, salt and sugar taxes have been left out from his recommendations in the strategy, following a bonfire of policies previously announced or under consideration following the Prime Minister’s near-death experience with Covid, which he blamed on his weight.

The Government has now delayed its ban on multi-buy deals on foods and drinks high in fat, salt or sugar until October next year, and pushed back its ban on television adverts for unhealthy food to January 2024.

Meanwhile, previous plans to “rewild” areas of the British countryside have been dramatically scaled back, in order to make sure that land management schemes reflect “farmer demand”.

Last year, the Government announced that farmers would be paid up to £800million a year to transform land into forest, wetlands and meadows of wildflowers.

It was hoped that this would also focus on “recovering and restoring England’s threatened native species”.

Now, the post-brexit scheme has been cut to £50million, according to The Sunday Times.

George Eustice, the Environment Secretary, said: “The food industry is bigger than the automotive and aerospace industries combined, offering employment opportunities, apprenticeships and investment in research and development.

“The strategy we are setting out today will increase the focus on skills in the food sector, and the roles and career pathways available.

“In particular, we will seek to boost our horticulture industry and ensure the expertise needed to develop the sector here in the UK.”