Mr Thomas talked about his concern at the ‘considerable challenges’ farmers currently face, as one of their most important tasks was to feed the nation and it would be unwise to assume ‘that we can simply import what we cannot produce for ourselves.’
He also called on the government to do more to increase consumer confidence and to create an environment where farmers receive a fair price.
Responding to Mr Thomas’s concerns, which were echoed by several other MPs, farming minister George Eustice said that it was the Government’s intention that we should ‘produce more, sell more, export more and import less’ and that he hoped self-sufficiency would improve.
A full transcript of proceedings is available on the Hansard website at http://bit.ly/food_debate or you can watch it on Parliament TV at http://goo.gl/QyhBiE.