Chapter Four – UK Horticulture Production and National Dietary Guidelines: Meeting the Gap

Public health analysis suggests that many lives can be saved if the UK population followed dietary guidelines on fruit and vegetable daily intake. The Government's Eatwell Plate recommends that more than a third of UK daily diets should comprise fruit and vegetables and yet currently less than a quarter of diets are taken from this source. A UK debate on the status of the horticultural industry and its potential to meet a recommended increase in consumption is long overdue. This paper presents current national levels of fruit and vegetable production and consumption. It outlines the origins of what horticultural produce is consumed in the UK and the potential for meeting demand should diets adapt to those suggested by government guidelines. It recommends a focus of UK government policy should be the support and expansion of horticulture, both that which is produced and that which the population consumes.