UK groceries bill to soar £800 if key pesticides are banned

Written by Rachel Martin

The average UK family shopping bill is set to soar by £786 if pesticides are banned from British farms.

A new report, commissioned by the Crop Protection Association and written by independent agronomist Séan Rickard, highlights the impact removing plant protection products would have on family shopping bills.

It comes amid heightening scrutiny over plant protection with several high-profile pesticides struck over in recent years.

The EU voted to ban neonicotinoids in 2018. Glyphosate is also set to come under review in December 2019 when the process to renew its EU approval begins.

The report published this week estimates the average UK family’s grocery bill could rise by more than £786 a year, without the use of plant protection products.

The cost of fresh fruit and vegetables would rise by more than £4 a week or an extra £226 a year, making it more costly to get your five-a-day.

The yearly price hike will impact family favourites: On average families with two children will have to pay almost £140 more each year for cereal-based products such as bread and breakfast cereals and a further £60 for fresh meats.

The cost of roast dinner, with chicken, greens and fresh potatoes would be up by £1.47 a week. Adding a soft drink and a cake for dessert would mean another £1.94 a week, totalling an extra £177 a year.

Eating and drinking outside the home would rise by £92 a year. The biggest cost increase will be on takeaways and snacks which would cost an extra £24 a year.

The average annual household bill for alcohol and eating out is also projected to rise by some £92.

The average weekly grocery bill for a family of four, would rise by more than £15 a week – £786 a year – without plant protection products, a new report, written by a senior agricultural economist, suggests.

Séan Rickard, a former chief economist for the National Farmers’ Union, and author of the report, found that eating healthily could become unaffordable for some families if farmers do not have access to every tool in the box to protect crops.

Plant protection products (PPPs), also known as pesticides, prevent the loss of crop yields by guarding them against more than 10,000 species of pests, 30,000 species of weeds and countless diseases.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that on average between 26% and 40% of crop yields are lost to weeds, pests and diseases.

Without PPPs, they estimate the losses could double. If farmers were denied access to these products there would be a significant drop in global food production, a subsequent hike in food prices and the quality we have come to expect in the crops that underpin our food system would decline markedly.

Independent economist Séan Rickard said: “The removal of plant protection products would present a severe challenge to already hard-pressed households, exacerbate income inequalities and make healthy eating more expensive.

“Some of the largest increases in prices would be for vegetables and fruit.”

Crop Protection Association chief executive Sarah Mukherjee said: “The report shows that plant protection products are essential in maintaining the supply of affordable food for families across the UK.

Poorer households with children spend a much higher proportion of their weekly expenditure on food, meaning that their budgets will be squeezed even further if PPPs are threatened.
​

“UK farmers need every tool in the box, including pesticides, if they are to provide high quality, safe, affordable food.”

The post UK groceries bill to soar £800 if key pesticides are banned appeared first on Agriland.co.uk.

Continue reading on the Agriland Website...

 

[Steevo]

Written by Rachel Martin

The average UK family shopping bill is set to soar by £786 if pesticides are banned from British farms.

A new report, commissioned by the Crop Protection Association and written by independent agronomist Séan Rickard, highlights the impact removing plant protection products would have on family shopping bills.

It comes amid heightening scrutiny over plant protection with several high-profile pesticides struck over in recent years.

The EU voted to ban neonicotinoids in 2018. Glyphosate is also set to come under review in December 2019 when the process to renew its EU approval begins.

The report published this week estimates the average UK family’s grocery bill could rise by more than £786 a year, without the use of plant protection products.

The cost of fresh fruit and vegetables would rise by more than £4 a week or an extra £226 a year, making it more costly to get your five-a-day.

The yearly price hike will impact family favourites: On average families with two children will have to pay almost £140 more each year for cereal-based products such as bread and breakfast cereals and a further £60 for fresh meats.

The cost of roast dinner, with chicken, greens and fresh potatoes would be up by £1.47 a week. Adding a soft drink and a cake for dessert would mean another £1.94 a week, totalling an extra £177 a year.

Eating and drinking outside the home would rise by £92 a year. The biggest cost increase will be on takeaways and snacks which would cost an extra £24 a year.

The average annual household bill for alcohol and eating out is also projected to rise by some £92.

The average weekly grocery bill for a family of four, would rise by more than £15 a week – £786 a year – without plant protection products, a new report, written by a senior agricultural economist, suggests.

Séan Rickard, a former chief economist for the National Farmers’ Union, and author of the report, found that eating healthily could become unaffordable for some families if farmers do not have access to every tool in the box to protect crops.

Plant protection products (PPPs), also known as pesticides, prevent the loss of crop yields by guarding them against more than 10,000 species of pests, 30,000 species of weeds and countless diseases.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that on average between 26% and 40% of crop yields are lost to weeds, pests and diseases.

Without PPPs, they estimate the losses could double. If farmers were denied access to these products there would be a significant drop in global food production, a subsequent hike in food prices and the quality we have come to expect in the crops that underpin our food system would decline markedly.

Independent economist Séan Rickard said: “The removal of plant protection products would present a severe challenge to already hard-pressed households, exacerbate income inequalities and make healthy eating more expensive.

“Some of the largest increases in prices would be for vegetables and fruit.”

Crop Protection Association chief executive Sarah Mukherjee said: “The report shows that plant protection products are essential in maintaining the supply of affordable food for families across the UK.

Poorer households with children spend a much higher proportion of their weekly expenditure on food, meaning that their budgets will be squeezed even further if PPPs are threatened.
​

“UK farmers need every tool in the box, including pesticides, if they are to provide high quality, safe, affordable food.”

The post UK groceries bill to soar £800 if key pesticides are banned appeared first on Agriland.co.uk.

Continue reading on the Agriland Website...

What is his job title just to be clear?!


Whilst this is no doubt a big issue......£800 a year would mean much more if put in context of assumed food bill.

Won't supermarkets just import more from other countries without such restrictions?
In effect.....shoppers are potentially paying more for the same food.....yet the govt are letting them belive they aren't eating food treated with such chems.

 

[Bill the Bass]

So what’s the problem exactly? As Maximus said in Gladiator ‘is this not what you want?’ It was only last week that the BBC were telling everyone to great disgust that their spuds were sprayed 32 times, surely an extra £800 per year is a small price to pay to not have those evil farmers try and kill them? Or is all this hyperbole about pesticides really just that when it comes down to pounds shillings and pence?

It is of course a rhetorical question, I have come to the conclusion that reasoning with the public over food production is like trying to feed a toddler, they cry blue murder they are hungry then throw the food you hand them on the floor and laugh.

 

[Chris F]

I think some can afford to care and would choose "environmentallty friendly" food if they could tell the difference. However, for some in this country, food poverty is still a real promlem and they need cheap food. And without crop protection products in the UK, that food will have to be imported and that means it will defacto be worse for the environment.

The cheaper the food, the worse for the environment in generally how it works in supermarkets.

 

[Bill the Bass]

I think some can afford to care and would choose "environmentallty friendly" food if they could tell the difference. However, for some in this country, food poverty is still a real promlem and they need cheap food. And without crop protection products in the UK, that food will have to be imported and that means it will defacto be worse for the environment.

The cheaper the food, the worse for the environment in generally how it works in supermarkets.

I see your point, but if that is the case with regards food poverty (and I agree its a real issue) then food and its production is fundamentally a public good and should be supported as such and not denigrated and hamstrung by a government that views life through an upper middle class lenses.

 

[Chris F]

I see your point, but if that is the case with regards food poverty (and I agree its a real issue) then food and its production is fundamentally a public good and should be supported as such and not denigrated and hamstrung by a government that views life through an upper middle class lenses.

Food Production has not been categorised as a Public Good - this was emphased multiple times at the last seminar with the government I was at.

 

[Henarar]

Food Production has not been categorised as a Public Good - this was emphased multiple times at the last seminar with the government I was at.

how can food not be a public good ? if the public didn't have food they would die
so if food isn't a public good then what is ?

 

[Chris F]

how can food not be a public good ? if the public didn't have food they would die
so if food isn't a public good then what is ?

I have the seminar recorded - I'll see if I can add it here. The public already pay for their food is the general theme - whats the sense in paying for something twice. The public good concept is for things like tree's, insects, absorbing CO2.

@Guy Smith will know way more about this. Can you answer this more elequently Guy - think it was your friend Dieter who stated it.

 

[Bill the Bass]

Food Production has not been categorised as a Public Good - this was emphased multiple times at the last seminar with the government I was at.

I know that Chris, I had four Defra policy people on my farm last week. But you state that certain sectors of the public NEED cheap food, the market cannot provide cheap food AND deliver the environmental improvements Gove talked about in the 25 year plan - its unachievable and counterintuitive. If the government recognizes that food poverty is an issue then by definition food is a public good because the market is failing to provide it based on the simple principles of supply and demand. We all know that supply of most soft commodities is not short at present so why cant people afford food? If food needs to be cheap to allow for more disposable income for the masses benefiting the wider consumer economy and the greater good then it is most definitely a public good.

 

[Chris F]

I know that Chris, I had four Defra policy people on my farm last week. But you state that certain sectors of the public NEED cheap food, the market cannot provide cheap food AND deliver the environmental improvements Gove talked about in the 25 year plan - its unachievable and counterintuitive. If the government recognizes that food poverty is an issue then by definition food is a public good because the market is failing to provide it based on the simple principles of supply and demand. We all know that supply of most soft commodities is not short at present so why cant people afford food? If food needs to be cheap to allow for more disposable income for the masses benefiting the wider consumer economy and the greater good then it is most definitely a public good.

You missed the bit about supermarkets. The cheapest foods in supermarkets are also the most processed. Food straight from farms is perfectly cheap enough - go and buy a bag of spuds straight from a farm like many of us here do. Access to cheap food is restricted. The death of the local green grocer hasn't helped due to business rates.

As you say, this a government issue and we aren't a lobbying group - we are just discussion - that's why the NFU exists. The government policies do seem to contradict themsleves though - I quite agree. But there seems little chance food will count as one of the public goods that we will be paid for after BPS ends from what I have heard.

 

[Bill the Bass]

You missed the bit about supermarkets. The cheapest foods in supermarkets are also the most processed. Food straight from farms is perfectly cheap enough - go and buy a bag of spuds straight from a farm like many of us here do. Access to cheap food is restricted. The death of the local green grocer hasn't helped due to business rates.

As you say, this a government issue and we aren't a lobbying group - we are just discussion - that's why the NFU exists. The government policies do seem to contradict themsleves though - I quite agree. But there seems little chance food will count as one of the public goods that we will be paid for after BPS ends from what I have heard.

That's a bit patronsing isn't it? I grow my own thanks, any extra I need comes in a veg box delivered to my door every week for the princely sum of £11, hardly inaccessible.

Access to cheap food isn't restricted, discount retailers like Aldi and Liddle sell very good quality food for very little, most major multiples deliver to your door step. I would also argue that processed food is far more expensive than raw ingredients, if you took £100 and spent half on ready meals and half on fresh produce I bet you could make far more family meals out of the fresh produce.

Fundamentally, as I pointed out earlier food is cheap, but with 500,000 people in the UK dependent on food parcels and 2 million people officially malnourished, anyone who believes the market is providing food and it is not a public good is either mentally challenged or simply a liar.

Oh wait a minute..

 

[Chris F]

That's a bit patronsing isn't it? I grow my own thanks, any extra I need comes in a veg box delivered to my door every week for the princely sum of £11, hardly inaccessible.

Access to cheap food isn't restricted, discount retailers like Aldi and Liddle sell very good quality food for very little, most major multiples deliver to your door step. I would also argue that processed food is far more expensive than raw ingredients, if you took £100 and spent half on ready meals and half on fresh produce I bet you could make far more family meals out of the fresh produce.

Fundamentally, as I pointed out earlier food is cheap, but with 500,000 people in the UK dependent on food parcels and 2 million people officially malnourished, anyone who believes the market is providing food and it is not a public good is either mentally challenged or simply a liar.

Oh wait a minute..

I'm not being patronising at all - and I was actually speaking to you directly, apologies if it came accros that way. I don't think you realise how divorced the gerneral public are from food production. Many have never bought food that isn't from a supermarket. The concept of buying direct from a farm shop or green grocer has been completely lost. For many the concept of cooking food has been lost. Try to make your own family size lasagna for £4 - it isn;t poossible. You can make a much more healthy one from scratch using proper locally sourced beef veg and make your own pasta, but it will be double or triple that cost (it will also taste double or triple as good mind).

You can make cheaper food from the raw ingredients sometimes, if you buy idrect and cut out the middle men. But it is true that processed food is the cheapest as it comes from the most dubious sources. It is most definitely not quality.

I'm not even argueing with you, but food is not going to be classed as a public good and if a farmer is basing their business around the premise that they will be paid to produce food, then they are going to have a shock. But everything is pointing to the fact they won't.

 

[Clive]

That's a bit patronsing isn't it? I grow my own thanks, any extra I need comes in a veg box delivered to my door every week for the princely sum of £11, hardly inaccessible.

Access to cheap food isn't restricted, discount retailers like Aldi and Liddle sell very good quality food for very little, most major multiples deliver to your door step. I would also argue that processed food is far more expensive than raw ingredients, if you took £100 and spent half on ready meals and half on fresh produce I bet you could make far more family meals out of the fresh produce.

Fundamentally, as I pointed out earlier food is cheap, but with 500,000 people in the UK dependent on food parcels and 2 million people officially malnourished, anyone who believes the market is providing food and it is not a public good is either mentally challenged or simply a liar.

Oh wait a minute..

Its not some much access to cheap food but KNOWLEDGE re what to do with it


My wife got involved with a food charity (started by a local farmer actually) https://www.farmfreshrevolution.com/


They give away food at schools in unprivileged areas but soon found the people they were giving them out to had no idea what to do with the basic ingredients. As a result they now run basic cookery lessons as well


We are SO disconnected from a lot of the UK population - Adam Henson at a meeting I was at yesterday was saying he was going into inner city schools with sheep etc that children looked at like they were alien beings ! He also said the head told him there were many children as old as 16 at that school unable to use a knife and fork as they had only EVER eaten takeaway from packets and buckets with their fingers !

These are our customers and the disconnect is becoming massive

 

[Steevo]

He also said the head told him there were many children as old as 16 at that school unable to use a knife and fork as they had only EVER eaten takeaway from packets and buckets with their fingers !

Scary stuff!

You can bet that isn’t the best value food available, let alone most nutritious!

 

[Steevo]

Try to make your own family size lasagna for £4 - it isn;t poossible. Y

Maybe so, but baked potato, beans, cheese, and some veg/salad would come in way more nutritious and lower price per portion.

Depends how you define processed. Pasta and tomato sauce would be likewise. If you call pasta processed.