Farming Minister Jim Paice has announced the completion of a £50 million trade deal with China. The deal covers pork products, mostly ‘fifth quarter products’ including offal, trotters and ears which do not have a large market in Britain.

Commenting on the success of his trade mission to China, which forms part of the government’s plan to enable food producers from the UK find export markets outside the EU, the Farming Minister said, “China is the most lucrative grocery market in the world and from fashion to food its rapidly expanding middle class has an appetite for Western goods. In particular they are eating more meat, and our top quality producers have got huge opportunities to meet that demand and help our economic recovery.”

Under the government’s Food Export Plan, unveiled in January by Defra Secretary Caroline Spelman, the government is encouraging British producers and manufacturers to captialise on the country’s reputation for “quality, safety, innovation and expertise,” as well as high animal welfare, to export food and genetics.

However, a number of reports released by environmental organisations and a government oversight body have warned of the widespread uptake of unsustainable diets and consumption patterns; in reports by WWF and the government’s Environmental Audit Committee, researchers cautioned that increased meat and dairy consumption means human demand will outstrip the Earth’s ability to support humans within the next twenty years.

The authors of WWF’s Living Planet report warned “We are living as if we have an extra planet at our disposal, using 50 per cent more resources that the Earth can sustainably produce and unless we change course, that number will grow fast – by 2030 even two planets will not be enough.”

Both reports called for more education on sustainable diets and reducing consumption around the world. The reports were released ahead of next month’s Rio +20 Earth Summit, where world leaders will debate ways to mitigate the effects of poverty and climate change.     

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