Whether its shortages or rising costs, food is never far from making headline news these days.
A new report from Foresight, the Government’s think tank, argues for fundamental change to the global food system and beyond, if a rapidly expanding population is to be fed adequately over the next 40 years.
Multiple threats are converging on the food system including changes to the climate, competition for water and energy and changing patterns of consumption.
Head of the Foresight programme, Prof Sir John Beddington said: “Our study shows the food system is already failing. It is unsustainable with resources being used faster than they can be naturally replenished.
“At the same time a billion people are going hungry, another billion suffering from ‘hidden hunger’ whilst a billion are over-consuming. This project has helped identify a wide range of possible action that can meet challenges facing food and farming, both now and in the future,” he said.
The full report can be downloaded at www.bis.gov.uk/foresight
Meanwhile garden centres are bracing themselves for another grow your own boom this year as people look to cut weekly food costs through growing their own food.
It’s a topic that our north east gardener and horticulturist Paul Travis-Anderson has taken up several times at euvue’s garden section – and now we have gone one better.
We have produced a home gardening made easy DVD that will help you grow everyone’s favourite – the humble spud. Where on earth would we be without the super versatile potato – chipped, mashed, boiled, roasted or baked.
Paul’s DVD shows how to grow perfect potatoes from planting to pulling – and there’s nothing quite like the taste of home grown potatoes. You can take a sneak preview of the DVD at www.growpotatoes.co.uk and order a copy.
It’s time to get growing!
