Transition Penwith

The annual Food Statistics Pocketbook published today, provides a round-up of statistics on food covering the economic, social and environmental aspects of the food we eat.

It has chapters on:

• Food Chain (beyond agriculture)
• Consumer Demand
• Food Supply and Prices
• Environment
• Health
• Food Safety
• Regional results

Key findings include:

• The UK agri-food sector contributed £79.4 billion or 8.6 per cent to national market sector gross value added in 2006, a rise from 8.1 per cent in 2005.  It employed 3.2 million people in quarter four of 2007, unchanged from the same period in 2006.
• In 2006, 26 countries together accounted for 90 per cent of UK food supply. Around half was supplied domestically from within the UK, which was unchanged from 2005.
•  A third of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK food chain are attributed to UK farming and fishing.
• The proportion of men and women who consumed the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables per day increased from 22 per cent in 2001 to 28 per cent in 2006 for men, and from 25 per cent to 32% for women.

The pocketbook can be downloaded from:

https://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/publications/pocketstats/foodpocketstats/FoodPocketbook2008.pdf

For more information vist:

https://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/publications/pocketstats/foodpocketstats/default.asp