Abstract
During the first half of the 20th century, indeed for most of the period when the United Kingdom was a major economic power, Government policy towards food was simple, it should be available at the cheapest possible price. Farming suffered as food, much of it capable of being grown in the United Kingdom, was imported from the Empire, where it could be produced at a much lower cost. Consequently, the United Kingdom entered the Second World War with its domestic agriculture in a seriously weakened state; a point driven home by the calamitous ‘U’-boat attacks on the Atlantic convoys that were its lifeline. Thanks to a combination of military successes and a drastic plan for home production, the country was not starved into submission. Nevertheless, the experience proved cathartic for government planners. The maintenance of an adequate food supply, through agricultural self-sufficiency, became a primary objective during the ensuing years of the Cold War.
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Gear, A. (1994). Organic and non-organic agriculture. In: Dalzell, J.M. (eds) Food Industry and the Environment. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2097-9_2
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