Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to (a) reduce food miles and (b) improve security of supply by increasing domestic output of food.

Our food security depends on supply from diverse sources, strong domestic production as well as imports from stable sources. We produce 64% of our entire food supply need, and that increases to 77% for indigenous food that we can grow or rear here in the UK for all or part of the year. These figures have been steady over the past 20 years.

UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements our excellent domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.

Defra’s work on Agri-food chain sustainability is delivered through the ambitious WRAP-sponsored Courtauld 2025 voluntary agreement which has attracted signatories from across the food industry, and from central and local government. This work does not focus on food miles; it takes account of broader sustainability in the Agri-food chain from food waste to reduction of carbon and water. WRAP’s 2020 progress report showed that the strategies developed under Courtauld 2025 are working, including a 7% reduction in GHG emissions since the start of the programme in 2015.