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

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the World Wildlife Fund’s estimate that around seven billion meals' worth of food are disposed of as waste each year by UK farmers who cannot recruit enough workers to pick crops.

The recent estimate of 3.3 million tonnes in WWF's Hidden Waste Report is consistent with the range of estimates the Defra funded Waste and Resource Action Programme (WRAP) have reported previously.

WWF have reported that 2.9 million tonnes of edible food goes to waste on farms each year, which would equate to 6.9 billion meals if it is assumed that a 'meal' equates to 420g. In this context 'edible food' is used as a technical term to distinguish the proportion of any item of food which was intended for human consumption as distinct from the 'associated inedible parts' (e.g. shells, bones). It does not mean that the 2.9 million tonnes of waste were fit and ready for human consumption i.e. not requiring further processing. At a national scale, there is insufficient data to understand how much of the food wasted on farm was fit for consumption when it was wasted.

The WWF reported waste on farm is not caused solely by a lack of labour, this is the total estimated amount of edible food waste on farm. There are many causes of food waste on farm including the weather, fluctuations in supply and demand and failure to meet quality specifications This year the NFU have reported the results of a members' survey which suggests that 40% of UK farms experienced crop waste due to labour shortages. Other than this, the government is not aware of any quantified data linking volumes of waste to specific causes.

More can be done to reduce food waste in the primary production stage. Conversations with industry have suggested that a potentially significant cause of food waste on farm are unfair business practices at the point of first sale, where unreasonably late cancellations or late specification changes, among others, can lead to produce being left unharvested or rotting in the field. We have taken powers to clamp down on these kinds of unfair contractual practices through the 'fair dealings' powers contained in the Agriculture Act 2020 and intend to work with stakeholders to explore how these powers could be exercised to address such concerns.

Defra is aware of the impact that labour shortages are having in the horticulture sector and we continue to work closely with industry to monitor the situation and to help our world-leading farmers and growers access the labour they need. To inform future decisions on labour across the sector, Defra recently launched an independent review into labour shortages in the food supply chain, it will report in spring 2023.

The Seasonal Worker visa route was specifically designed to support the UK horticulture sector where growers typically require higher volumes of labour, for relatively short-term periods of time, in line with seasonal production peaks. On Friday 16 December, the government announced that an allocation of 45,000 visas will be made available to businesses in the horticulture sector to recruit foreign workers for up to six months to work in both the edible and ornamental sectors. This is an uplift of 15,000 visas compared to the allocation at the start of 2022. A further 10,000 visas will be available should there be demand and contingent on sponsors and growers continuing to improve worker welfare standards. This announcement will provide clarity to businesses, who are seeking to plan for 2023 harvests.