UK Farmers Urged to Grow Spices

A Defra-funded report has suggested British farms should start growing herbs and spices to meet the public’s demand for curries

The Indian food sector is now worth £4 billion a year, and the research, carried out by members of the Green Food Project and the Curry Sub Group Report, looked at how to make it more healthy and sustainable.

Access to ingredients such as turmeric, paprika and cardamom are all completely reliant on imports from other countries, but the report suggested farmers could take advantage of hotter weather – caused by climate change – to grow crops that were previously uneconomical.

Suggestions were also made to lower the amount of rice and meat in dishes, using ingredients such as chickpea flour and barley wheat instead.

The report said, “The UK is completely dependent on imports for rice and spices, whilst less than 20% of all tomatoes supplied to the UK are domestically produced. There is potential to increase the use of home grown ingredients and enable production of some traditionally imported ingredients.”