Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his policy to raise awareness of more environmental ways of growing fruit and vegetables.

Defra supports environmentally friendly farming, including the growing of the UK’s delicious fruits and vegetables, through numerous routes. This includes working with LEAF (Linking the Environment and Farming), the organic sector and CFE (Championing the Farmed Environment). 45% of all UK produced fruit and vegetables are LEAF Marqued, which means they are grown to high environmental standards using integrated farm management techniques.

We are introducing three schemes that reward the delivery of environmental benefits: the Sustainable Farming Incentive, the Local Nature Recovery scheme and the Landscape Recovery scheme. The schemes aim to pay land managers for the delivery of public goods as they undertake sustainable farming practices, improve animal health and welfare, reduce carbon emissions, create and preserve habitat, and make landscape-scale environmental changes.

Our communications and engagement teams work in partnership to raise awareness of these new schemes, and encourage farmers to consider existing ones like Countryside Stewardship where appropriate. Our combined activity includes Q&A webinars, attendance and presentations at agricultural shows, our Future Farming blog, and physical communications products like our Farming is Changing leaflet.