The Photo Gallery

The UK imports about 350,000 tonnes of potatoes a year, including during the English season. Many of these imported varieties may have been in storage for up to six months!

Half the vegetables and 95 per cent of the fruit eaten in the UK comes from overseas

Farming & Food production together make up about 1/5th of UK & World Greenhouse Gases

In the UK the total food chain, from farm to fork, emits 22% of greenhouse gases - similar to the total for road traffic.

Of all fruit and veg grown globally approx 25% is wasted, with most of this going into domestic waste bins

Kenyan green beans are 20-26 times more Green House Gas intensive than seasonal UK beans

Apples can and are kept for up to 10 months in cold storage before being sold as ‘fresh’

40% of conventionally grown fruit and vegetables contain residual agrichemicals

Seventy-six per cent of apples consumed in the UK come from overseas

The UK imports about 350,000 tonnes of potatoes a year, including during the English season. Many of these imported varieties may have been in storage for up to six months

Two thirds of the tomatoes eaten in the UK are imported, with a typical Saudi Arabian variety travelling an average of 3,100 miles

In the UK, we get most of our carrots from South Africa (approximately 6,000 food miles), despite the fact that the Western carrot emerged in Europe in the 15th or 16th century.

Agriculture and food account for nearly 30 per cent of goods trucked around Britain's roads and, according to a Government report in 2005, the resulting road congestion, accidents and pollution cost the country £9bn a year.

Each year an estimated 6.3 million tonnes of packaging comes into British homes, at a cost of £450 to the average family

Since 1978, the annual amount of food moved by HGVs in the UK has increased by 23 percent with the average distance for each trip also up by 50 percent

In 2008 the global cost of bread, butter, eggs and potatoes increased by as much as 60 per cent in 12 months.

A standard allotment can yield around a ton of vegetables. If you bought the same amount of organic potatoes, onions, carrots and parsnips in a year, it would cost you around £1,700 from Sainsbury's or a minimum of £1,227 from Asda – even more if you have spent £30 a week on organic vegetables delivered in an attractive crate.

All local authorities in England and Wales are legally obliged to provide any group of adults (aged 18 and over) with allotments of 250sq m. Get yours!

Every £10 spent at a local food business is worth £25 for the local area’s economy, compared with just £14 when the same amount is spent in a supermarket

A Californian grown lettuce that is consumed in London has an energy consumption – calorie ratio of 127:1

Today, some 817 million tons of food are shipped around the planet each year, up fourfold from 200 million tons in 1961.