• The UK has lost almost half of its wildlife and plant species as a result of human and land development since the Industrial Revolution. 

• UK’s flying insects have declined by at least 60% in 20 years.   

• Pollinators such as birds, bees and other insects are estimated to be responsible for a third of the world’s crop production.  

• Without a wide range of animals, plants and micro-organisms, we cannot have the healthy ecosystems that we rely on to provide us with the air we breathe and the food we eat.  

• How can we become more food self sufficient and bring back lost biodiversity at the same time?  

• A third of all the food we produce is wasted. Another third is fed to animals. 

• The new Australia trade deal means beef imported from the other side of the world is cheaper than meat produced in the UK.  Ecologists ask how can this possibly be good for the environment?

• Farmers like Derek Banbury fear the Brexit floodgates are opening to cheap imported food produced to lower animal welfare, and environmental standards.  

• Only 50% of the vegetables the country eats are grown on UK farms – and only 16% of fruit.  The rest are imported. 

• In 2017, acknowledging the harm chemical fertilizers and pesticides were doing to our soil, the Environment Secretary Michael Gove said: “The UK is 30 to 40 years away from the fundamental eradication of soil fertility in parts of the country”

• Wartime necessity saw the UK become self sufficient in vegetable production. Now just 1% of land is dedicated to this task. Doubling this area could make us self sufficient in vegetable production.