President celebrates farming achievements and signals end of cheap world food
The era of cheap food on world markets is coming to an end and Britain’s world class farmers and growers can look forward to a future in which the productive capacity of their industry is once again appreciated to the full. This will be the message of NFU President Peter Kendall at the National Farming Awards dinner.
In his speech tonight Mr Kendall will say: “I am convinced rising world population, growing wealth in India and China, the prospect of climate change reducing production in some parts of the world and the huge increases we are seeing in renewable energy production from the land will combine to draw the curtain on an era of cheap world food. I am also convinced production agriculture will be more and more important to this country.
“I am not advocating an all out pursuit of production at the expense of the landscape or the environment. We must farm with sensitivity to our footprint. But we can do that. We can find smart solutions that enable us to farm while improving our environmental performance.”
During tonight’s dinner Mr Kendall will join key stakeholders, farmers and growers in celebrating the drive, skill and enterprise demonstrated by members – even in the most adverse circumstances.
He said: “When I look to the future I feel even more optimistic. Farmers and growers in this country have not had an easy time in recent years. As President I have had the opportunity to travel around the country and meet farmers and growers, seeing their farms, and I can tell you I am astounded by their skill and enterprise and by the number of world-class businesses in this country.”
Show-casing farmers’ and growers’ success during the awards’ dinner is a home-grown menu – packed with local food including asparagus, British beef and summer fruits.
Mr Kendall added: “I have been in the judging process for our winners and I have been greatly impressed by the quality of entries. As I have said before these are representatives of a world-class industry.”
