LIBERAL Democrats are trying to persuade their Tory coalition partners to adopt a national plan to make the UK more self-sufficient in food production.

Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron said the country desperately needed a comprehensive strategy to help counter global food shortages.

Lib Dem president Mr Farron said: “A national food products strategy is one of the things we are fighting for in the coalition. It’s not Government policy yet but we are trying to persuade our Conservative partners that it’s the right thing to do.”

He said his party leader, the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, was ‘fully behind’ the idea and a special advisor in his office was looking at the potential for such a strategy with officials at the Department for Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Mr Farron said a comprehensive food products strategy would help ensure farmland was maximised for food production. It would also address issues such as training future farmers and making the market for farm produce fairer.

He raised the issue at last week’s National Farmers’ Union conference, telling delegates: “The population of planet earth will rise. Demand for food will double. Can you think of another industry whose expected demand can match that? If our job is to enthuse you to get involved in farming, then that is all you need to know.”

Mr Farron said it was ‘criminal’ that a food products strategy had not been written since the Second World War.

The NFU conference was also addressed by Cumbrian MPs Rory Stewart and Jamie Reid.

Conservative Mr Stewart, who represents Penrith and the Border, said: “The long-term future of farming will rely on bold reforms in animal health and exports. We must secure the future of our breeding stock not only for the peace of mind of Cumbria’s farmers, but also to the strengthen potential for agri-exports abroad.”

Mr Reid, Labour MP for Copeland, told delegates: “The view in Westminster is that farmers and people in the countryside are wealthy. They don’t see struggling farmers and villages, or the pain and the misery that these misconceptions actually cause.

“I know there is a forgotten England and you are part of that. They don’t realise how important you will be in the future.”