Rethinking land use: The case for plant-based food production in the UK

In recent years, the conversation around food production in the UK has shifted. With climate concerns, rising health awareness, and growing food insecurity, it’s becoming clear that our current farming practices may no longer serve us, or the planet, as well as they once did.

Current land use and land management practices in the UK place significant pressure on the environment, contributing to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and ecosystem degradation. 

Agriculture occupies approximately 70% of UK land, with grasslands alone covering 40% (UCL, 2021). Yet in 2022, the UK’s food self-sufficiency was only 60%, with 40% of food imported (Defra, 2023) making us vulnerable to trade disruptions, rising tariffs, and global shocks. The agriculture and land use sector accounted for 11.7% of the UK’s total GHG emissions in 2019 (BEIS, 2021), including the majority of nitrous oxide and methane emissions.

Promoting plant-based farming offers an opportunity to produce more food, more sustainably, and with a lower environmental footprint.

Why Plant-Based Farming? 

Crops like vegetables and pulses (think beans, lentils, and peas) don’t just offer greater yield per square metre, they’re also rich in protein and far more efficient than livestock farming. In fact, research from the University of Oxford’s Livestock, Environment and People (LEAP) project found that the environmental impact of a vegan diet is around one-third of that of a high-meat diet. Results demonstrated that even a modest reduction in meat consumption can lead to a 30% reduction in environmental harm (LEAP, 2023).

Globally, food systems are responsible for about a third of greenhouse gas emissions, 70% of all freshwater use, and 78% of freshwater pollution. Reducing our reliance on meat could drastically cut emissions and help protect freshwater ecosystems, supporting biodiversity and long-term food security in the process.

Protecting biodiversity while strengthening food security 

Biodiversity underpins everything from soil health to crop pollination. Without it, the quality and quantity of our food could suffer. A 2024 study modelled the effects of shifting from meat-heavy diets to plant-based diets in Great Britain and found that converting grazing land to horticulture and natural habitats could lead to net gains in biodiversity, particularly benefiting pollinators and conservation-priority species (Ferguson-Gow H, Nicholas O, Outhwaite C et al, 2022).

While many organisations already support biodiversity through measures like Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), there’s a real opportunity to go further by weaving more plant-based food production into national strategies. Government backing could help pave the way.

The health benefits of a plant-based diet

It’s not just the environment that stands to benefit. Reducing meat consumption can also have direct health benefits, according to a study led by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital (2022). The study found participants who consumed healthy plant-based diets had lower cardiovascular disease risk, and those diets had lower greenhouse gas emissions and use of cropland, irrigation water, and nitrogenous fertiliser than diets that were higher in animal-based foods. The findings also showed that red and processed meat had the highest environmental impact out of all food groups in participants’ diets, producing the greatest share of greenhouse gas emissions and requiring the most irrigation water, cropland, and fertiliser.

Sustainable, innovative farming

With available land scarce, especially in dense urban areas, the UK is already seeing innovation in food production. Indoor farming, such as hydroponics, aeroponics, vertical systems, is opening up new possibilities for growing food in underused or unconventional spaces.

• Take Growing Underground, for instance: based in old WWII tunnels beneath Clapham High Street. This London-based farm grows herbs and salad greens using hydroponic methods, completely free from pesticides and weather disruptions. 
• GrowUp Farms in Kent uses 100% renewable energy to grow leafy greens indoors with 94% less water than traditional farming. 
• In West Norfolk, Wild Ken Hill is combining regenerative farming, rewilding, and traditional conservation practices for a truly innovative approach to coastal agriculture.

Elsewhere in the world, Singapore’s Sky Greens and Japan’s Spread Co are pushing the boundaries of vertical and automated indoor farming, proof that even land-scarce regions can produce food at scale, sustainably.

Of course, these methods come with their own challenges, such as high upfront costs, energy demands, and complex regulations have slowed adoption. But with the right policy support, tax incentives, and research funding, they could become a central part of the UK’s farming future.

We need to rethink how we use this land. A land use framework that prioritises plant-based food production could yield not only more food but healthier outcomes for both people and planet. It’s not just a question of what we eat, but how we grow it.