How our densely populated island is getting more dependent on other countries to survive and feed itself - Yorkshire Post Letters

When will we realise the simplistic solutions do not put us ahead of other countries? The YP, 13/12/25, Christmas food prices only considers drought and soil degeneration.

Following storm Babet half our land capped after which any heavy rainfall was in the water course in minutes, not spread over days when our land and drains are working.

Our lowest land is 100M above sea level. This land, with additional work, will take five years to recover, not five dry days.

Rice paddies, wetlands and flood plains have evolved over millennia. Centuries ago the Dutch drained the fens, the monks drained our land so they could get iron from the Tankersley Ironstone, now 33’ of coal has been deep mined under us.

Our governments have not aided land drainage for 40+ years. Michael Gove paid public money for public good, i.e. compensation for not growing crops.

More land is taken for housing, transport and industry, Ed Miliband funds solar on farm land, controlled heather burning is banned so when there is a moorland fire it now burns deep destroying the peat and future production, also releasing many centuries of stored carbon.

Minette Batters spent 6 months producing a report which our government is sitting on.

If farming is to be profitable with no basic subsidy to produce cheap food, more restrictions, fewer sheep on the moors, input costs increasing rapidly, increased inheritance taxes to pay to survive; then farm unit selling prices need to increase substantially.

Will our EU negotiations favour importing their surplus fruit and veg at a discount?

Continue to allow our rich elite to import sub standard products making a quick low-risk buck when there is a shortage; and allow such as the chicken scam to continue? Or might it even favour UK producers and food security at a premium?

The whole world is having climate extremes, giving different diseases with fewer developed immunities, reduced yields, more crop failures, loss of soils from floods to grow future crops.

Reduced yields use less sunlight, reduce carbon sequestration and the energy not used increases global warming. Artificial Intelligence, data driven intuition, uses much energy; exporting our high energy users does not reduce world global warming.

As with energy, defence, communications our small, densely populated island is getting more dependent on other countries to survive and feed itself.

We leave coal, oil, minerals and gas in the ground; close oil wells/ refineries, bio-ethanol plants, blast furnaces and potteries.

Yet our government ignores these losses, but talks of needing growth, and does little to increase our future energy efficiency. When will our governments learn it can’t have its cake and eat it?