A piece about beans that were bred at Warwick Crop Centre, School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick.

As the UK reels from recent fruit and vegetable shortages, scientists are advising how to increase homegrown produce – benefitting the economy and the environment. The UK has a heavy reliance on other countries for the supply of fruit and vegetables. As diets shift to plant-based foods and climate-vulnerable countries increasingly struggle with food production, there is a need for increasing production and resilience in UK agriculture. To address this problem, a new Green Paper is set to shape national strategy on promoting fresh produce grown here in the UK. It follows the National Food Strategy released in 2022, setting out targets for a healthy nation.

‘Growing British’ is informed by research at the University of Warwick and its internationally renowned Warwick Crop Centre which promotes sustainable agriculture, horticulture and food security. Growing British backs a 30% increase in UK consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables by 2032, and if even half of this was home-grown would add an extra £0.5 billion in direct GDP contributions to the UK economy per year – while also reaping environmental and nutritional benefits.

In Spring 2023, Beat Kümin (Food GRP academic lead) & Pierre Purseigle from the Department of History will represent the University of Warwick as Fellows of BrIAS, the Institute for Advanced Study run jointly by the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), where they will research projects, present talks and run workshops relating to its current theme of 'The Past, Present and Future of Food, Climate Change and Sustainability'. Full details of the Institute, programme and events appear on the Brias Homepage.