If farmers grow crops to make fuel or plastics, will they be able to produce enough food?
This is a valid question, and the answer is that we must carefully manage our resources so that food supplies to all parts of the world are protected. The following points are important in considering this question: There is enough ‘spare’ or excess land to produce a significant amount of non-food crops and renewable materials: this is true for the UK and for the planet. In Europe, we over-produce food, and so some agricultural land is labelled as ‘set-aside’. Set-aside land cannot be used to grow food, but it can be used to grow non-food crops. The set-aside rate for 2008 has been set at 0% in response to high cereal prices and low world stocks. However, the land that was previously under set-aside can still be used to produce crops for renewable materials without significantly affecting our food supply, exports or imports. Farmers choose to grow crops based on the demand for the crop and its price. If demand for a crop is high, its price goes up and farmers produce more so that they
